The Temptation
by SaronCalamore
Summary: Remington has returned to New York, but how well can he cope with the changes fifty years can bring? Will he finally be able to forgive himself for the past?
1. Chapter 1

So, I'm trying another Remington based story. This one, much like my other, is from Remington's POV, but the concept is very different. So, I'm hoping that this one works out.

This one uses both Biblical and Milton quotes, so if you're at all familiar with _Paradise Lost_ those should be noticable. Now, if my Bible quotes seem different, just know that I do not have a copy of the King James' version. I'm using the American Bible Society translation.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this, and please: If you notice any glaring errors, please tell me. I try and catch everything, but without another set of eyes, some things do go unnoticed.

Disclaimer: Chrono Crusade is the property of Daisuke Moriyama.

* * *

Sometimes it was so easy to forget why I was wandering around the streets of Rome, cold, hungry, and always alone. I tried to convince myself a thousand times that I was waiting for redemption, but after sixty eight years, that excuse became less and less plausible to me. It was just a lie that I constantly told myself to stay where I was and away from something that might be better. 

Well, I was tired of it. I think that I may have grown tired of it the moment I saw Aion walking through the crowd that May day in 1981. Until that moment, I had never loathed the existence I had chosen for myself, but that day…That day upon seeing that he was still alive and still just as perfect as he had been fifty years ago, it caused me to take into consideration what I was doing with my eternal—and God forsaken—life.

For years I traveled the streets of Rome and the Vatican City in both a vain attempt to rectify my situation, and to tell myself that I was there to protect the people from that manipulative pig of a devil. But when a black limo pulled up beside me one unusually cool day in July, I took a chance…and learned the lesson of my life.

X X X

The day started out much the same way my days always did: scrounging around for food and an old paper. I didn't need to eat, but it gave me something to do, and the only reason I bothered with the paper was to see what was happening with the world. It was one of the few things that I received any real satisfaction from.

But that day there was no paper, and no real food to speak of either. Maybe it was because it was a rather cool morning that there was so little to find in my usual spots. In the end it wouldn't matter, but I was more than a little disgruntled by it at the time.

I went out onto a side street and began to travel down it. I kept my hands in my pockets and my eyes down to avoid looking at anyone. People generally avoided looking at me anyway, but I did it out of habit. I knew that the chances of running into someone that knew me were slim, but they were still there. Even the _idea_ of meeting someone from my former life like this made me feel incredibly awkward and pathetic.

I did look up when I reached a main road. I may have been angel, but getting hit by a car is not something that I wanted to try. Once I was safely on the walk way though, my eyes went back to my feet, and I carried on as if I had somewhere to be.

I managed to get halfway between somewhere and nowhere when a very nice black limo drove up along side me. I didn't pay much attention to it. More than likely the driver was lost or the passenger was looking at some of the architecture.

I still didn't pay any interest to the vehicle when the passenger window went down, and the man sitting there leaned out.

"Sir, can I speak to you for a moment?" he called to me…in perfect English.

"What are you looking for? The Vatican is that way and the Coliseum is back there," I said as I indicated the directions of the usual tourist attractions.

"No sir, I was wondering if you were Minister Ewan Remington."

I stopped in my tracks and looked at the passenger. "Why do you care?"

"My master would like to speak with you, sir. He says that he's very interested in your past. So, are you Minister Remington?"

"I am Ewan Remington, but I gave up being a Minister a long time ago. What has your master so interested in me that he sent you two thugs out to pick me up?"

"We're the hired helped, Mr. Remington, but we're not thugs. We just do as we're told. Now, would you like to come with us peacefully, or am I going to have to get out of the car and find another way make you get in?" the man asked with an unusually bright, and friendly smile.

I could have left if I wanted to. Even though I no longer had my wings, it didn't mean that I couldn't travel short distances quickly. I mean, I still had legs after all.

But the weariness that hung heavy on my body made me stay and give the car a second glance. It _did_ look nice, and I was so tired of living on the streets with little hope for a better future.

So, without a second thought, I opened the back door, and got in.

"I'm glad that you didn't make that difficult, sir," the passenger continued to smile as I settled myself in.

"I'm doing this because only a handful of people know that I was a Minister. Can you tell me your master's name? Knowing that bit of information would narrow the list of those people substantially."

"Unfortunately, he requested that we not tell you his name. He said that he was more than capable of doing that himself."

I sighed and leaned my head against the seat. "Can you tell me what he does for a living at least?"

"He's a vice president of one of the larger businesses in Europe."

I shifted my gaze onto the driver. I couldn't see too much of him given my position, but he was lean and had dark hair.

"Does your friend talk?" I asked, realizing that our chauffeur had said nothing.

The passenger glanced at the driver and shrugged. "Ambrogino doesn't speak much."

The drive was quiet for the next hour as we drove away from the capital and towards more agricultural land. It'd changed since I'd last been out there, but then again, sixty plus years is bound to cause some changes.

Everything had been rebuilt, replanted, or just buried under. It was the antithesis of how I felt: broken, burned, and exposed.

X X X

It noon when we reached our destination, and I admit to being surprised by what I saw. We were stopped outside an enormous estate, and after a few seconds of button pushing and name dropping, we were allowed onto the grounds.

"Just where does your master work that he's able to afford this place?"

"He inherited it from the last owner. Baron Alessandro."

The car pulled around to the front door, and the passenger got out. He made as if to open my door, but I got out myself before he had a chance to.

The mansion was gorgeous: white marble columns, a blue brick façade, fountains and gardens…more then ever I wanted to know the identify of the man that wanted to see me. My only guess at that moment was a grandson of a former Magdalene member, but even that seemed somewhat unlikely.

"This way, sir."

I stopped my starring and followed the passenger into the building. The interior was even more beautiful than the exterior…if a little too ornate and dark for my tastes.

"There's a sitting room over to your right if you would like to relax and wait. Can I get you anything?"

"Some water."

He walked away and I meandered over towards the room. I was terrified about sitting on any of the chairs so I just stood and took it in. Crystal vases, ancient looking leather bound books, and Victorian era couches lined the space, and I was certain that just looking at something wrong would ruin it.

"You can sit you know."

The man came in carrying a tray with a glass of water and a bottle.

"I don't want to soil anything. I can't really remember the last time I was able to have a nice shower and clean clothes," I replied as I took the water and drained it. "By the way, what's your name? I don't think you've given it to me."

"Oh, I didn't. Call me Gabriel," the dusty blonde said cheerfully.

"Nice to meet you, Gabriel."

"Same to you, Mr. Remington. If you would like, I can arrange for you to get cleaned up. I think that we have some clothes around that would fit you."

"That would be wonderful. Thank you."

He left again, and I looked at the books: First editions of such novels as _Frankenstein_, _Dracula_, and _The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_.

_Horror stories? Well, if that's what he enjoys. It seems a bit strange for a member of the Order to have first editions._

I shook my head. I still had no idea if this person had any relation to the Magdalene Order. That was just an assumption, and a bad one at that.

"The maids have prepared a shower for you, and have laid out some of the master's clothes."

Gabriel entered the room again with a smile. I was beginning to wonder if that was the only expression he had, or if it was a defensive mechanism.

"He won't mind?" I asked.

"None of us have ever seen him wear these particular articles. It seems like he always wears the same thing day in and day out. So, he shouldn't. Anyway, this way."

He led me up the grand staircase in the front of the hall and toward some of the bedrooms. Already I could hear the pounding of the shower, and it sounded like heaven.

"Take as much time as you would like. Your clothes are waiting for you on the bed," he said as he opened the door and let me in. "I'll be downstairs taking care of some odds and ends. If you need anything, just dial 1 on the phone and someone on the staff will answer and get you what you need."

I nodded and he retreated to the lower level.

_Just how long has it been since I've had a _real_ shower? _I thought as I took off my clothes and stepped into the steaming water. It felt so wonderful that I just stood under the flow for several minutes. Years of grime and weariness fell away and I sighed in relief.

It made me feel a bit more like a man.

X X X

"Mr. Remington, I have just been told that the master is running late. He said that you may help yourself to anything here, except the '96 Saint-Emilion," one of the servants told me as I returned to the main level. Several hours had passed since Gabriel had taken me upstairs, and the sun was beginning to set over the estate. I admit that I probably spent two hours in the shower alone, another hour in front of the mirror, and still more time putting on my new wardrobe.

"Why not that one?" I asked as I pulled at the clothes.

"He has a feeling that it's going to become a very valuable bottle in the coming decade. It's already reached its maturity, but he feels that letting it sit will make it even better.

"Is your clothing uncomfortable, sir? If it is, I'm certain that we can get you something else to wear."

"No, everything is very comfortable to be honest. I'm just not used to wearing silk shirts and fitted pants," I explained to the very concerned maid.

"That's good to hear. Well, dinner will be served in an hour, so if you don't mind waiting…"

"Is there a library here? I think that I would enjoy sitting down with a good book until it's time to eat."

She nodded and led me through several corridors. The coloring of the halls remained the same, but I began to notice more sculptures in this part of the mansion. They were images of angels and demons fighting, lions and wolves hunting, and corruptions of otherwise beautiful pieces of work. I shivered a little, but kept any comments I had to myself.

"Here it is, Mr. Remington. I'll come and get you once dinner is ready."

She left me to my own devices, and I just stood in awe. Hundreds, no _thousands_ of books lined the mahogany shelves, and every single one looked to be a first or second edition.

As a first class militia member, I never had much time to read. If I did, it was usually to research something of importance for my next mission. But now, there was nothing _but_ time and I had no idea where I wanted to start.

Going through the shelves, I skimmed over the titles until I noticed one leather-bound book that seemed to be much more worn than the others. Gently taking the book from its place, I looked at the cover.

Paradise Lost_? Interesting. _

I sat down in one of the large leather chairs and settled in to read the story of the Fall. I admit, I've read _Paradise Lost_ several times. Even angels get bored in Heaven, and reading mortal literature proves to be a wonderful distraction. But I'd been on Earth since the early 1800's, and well, I've already mentioned how little time I had for leisure reading.

I noticed certain passages had been underlined, and I frowned as I read over them.

_The mind is its own place, and in itself_

_Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven…._

_Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven._

I flipped through the pages until I found another underlined section. Funny, but it seemed that the reader had gone through and noted every single section where God seemed anything less then benevolent and all forgiving.

_Knowledge forbidden?_

_Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord_

_Envy them that? Can it be sin to know?_

_Can it be death? And so they only stand_

_By ignorance? Is that their happy state,_

_The proof of their obedience and their faith?_

Granted, that particular passage had been from Satan's point of view, but the message was clear. Who ever had taken notice of this section wanted to remember that Satan believed that God wanted Man to live in ignorance.

_Why would anyone want to recall these parts? Why not some of the others like, the discussion with Raphael or the perfection of Eden?_

There were too many questions, and I knew that they would only be answered when I met the man, but until then, my mind wandered and tried to piece together an image of what he could be like.

It wasn't that pretty of an image.

I put the book down on a nearby table and stared at the ceiling. There was a beautiful (and twisted) mural painted onto it. From what I could understand of the painting, it was a depiction of Dante's _Inferno, _and I have to say, the artist depicted the scenes of torture perfectly.

Most assuredly, the image I had of the man I was to meet was not a pleasant one.

X X X

My unhappy thoughts were interrupted by the maid as she came back to get me. She gave me an odd look when she noticed that I was staring at the ceiling, but didn't say anything in regards to it.

She led me back through the passage with the sculptures, and this time I stopped before the figure of the angels and demons locked in battle. The angels looked fine: They were beautiful yet formidable—just as they should be—and they were attacking the demons with spears, swords, and other such weapons.

It was how the devils were depicted that made me think. I don't mean to insult, but humans usually have a very concise idea of what demons are supposed to look like. They tend to be very animal like and incredibly vile. These ones were anything but that.

The fiends appeared remarkably similar to Chrono and Aion in their devil forms: still human at a glance, but with "bone tails", horns on the side of their heads, and wings. As I took a closer inspection of the sculpture, I noticed the devils' eyes. Who ever had made this piece of art had been incredible with emotion, for not only did the demons show utter hatred towards the angels, but they seemed to have this determination in their gaze that overtook the hate.

"They want to be free," I whispered.

"Sir? Are you alright?" the maid's voice shook me from my reverie.

"Yes, I'm fine. I was just admiring this piece. It's not often that you see such raw emotion portrayed so clearly."

"Really? I've never taken much time to notice it. I'll have to look at it sometime.

"Well, we don't want dinner to get cold, do we? This way."

I don't know why her insistence on doing her duty shook me so much, but it did. It honestly did.

"What's on the menu for tonight?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"I think that tonight the chef decided for a French flair," was all she said. Well, so much for small talk.

X X X

The chef had to have been stolen from a five star restaurant. That's the only explanation I had for why the food tasted as good as it did. The fair had been light, but it was more than filling. The only thing that I was disappointed with was the fact that I had been alone to eat. A butler came in and served me at the large "dinner table" and had then gone off. Not even Gabriel had come by to ask me how everything tasted.

As I sat at the table sipping at my glass of wine, I began to think about how it seemed everyone at the mansion kept their distance from everything surrounding them. I admit, keeping a professional distance would be one thing—like what Kate and I had had—but it felt like the people that worked were keeping a secret. One that could get them all killed should anyone outside their circle find out about it.

The beautiful clock at the entrance began to chime and I listened to the notes ring out: one, two, three, four, five… at five chimes a car pulled up and Gabriel went to the door. At eight the door swung open and I could make out the traces of a muffled conversation between Gabriel and the mysterious master.

"…alright, sir?"

"Bad day…get him?"

"…finished dinner, but…your name."

The master of the house must have said something because Gabriel took a quick glance into the dinning room and gave me a reassuring smile.

"Master will be with you in a moment. He just needs to get comfortable. He's had a bad day at work."

I nodded and finished the last of my wine. There was some scuffling outside, and a few moments later Gabriel returned. "He's in the waiting room across the hall. I think that you know the way, so I'll leave you two alone."

I thanked him and took a deep breath before taking that short-thousand mile walk. A million different thoughts were racing through my mind as I slowly closed that expanse between me and the man that knew about my past. As soon as I entered the room though, all of those thoughts scattered into a million pieces as I saw _him_.

I could do nothing but stare as Aion poured himself a glass of scotch and leaned against the wall. _He_ was the one that wanted to see me? This devil that did nothing but ruin the lives of all those that he came into contact with?

"You look surprised, Remington. Did you think that it was someone from the Order that wanted to see you?" he asked in what I assumed was his usual cool manner. He had taken off the white jacket I had last seen him in, and I guess he looked about as relaxed as he could.

"I had some hope," I answered.

He chuckled and sipped his drink. "Hope, Remington? What ever gave you the idea that anyone from the Order could live like this? Even the highest members can't afford these kinds of luxuries."

"Why me? Why did you specifically seek me out and for what? So you can toy with me? To make me think that I've finally been allowed to leave behind that life behind?" I demanded, my hand clenching and unclenching into a fist.

"I sought you out, Remington, because we're the last ones alive. I admit that your situation fascinates me, and I want to understand why you turned your back on your creator," he replied with a shrug.

"You have to want something in return. You do nothing without some kind of benefit."

"You do realize that sometimes people help those in need just because they enjoy it. There is absolutely nothing that you could give me that I would want. I'm helping you because I want to. No other reason."

I shook my head. "You're lying. You have to be lying."

The devil sighed and pushed himself off the wall. "I don't _lie_. I'm rather insulted that you would even suggest that I do. I do what needs to be done, and that is that.

"Look, I won't force you to stay here. If you want to go back to living on the streets, be my guest. I'm offering you another chance though, and I hope that you realize that. Take the night to think over it, and talk to me in the morning. Good-night, Remington."

With that, he effectively ended the conversation. I wanted to ask him more, to demand that he tell me what he wanted me for, but he looked so exhausted and annoyed that I didn't dare try his patients any more. So, I went upstairs and locked myself in my room.

He was right. I _did_ have to think about it. Would I dare risk what was left of my pride and stay with him, or would I returned to the streets of Rome and continue my meaningless existence? I was so exhausted even by the idea of the latter that I sat on the bed and slouched over.

Time ticked on, and I buried my face in my hands. _Rosette, Chrono, what the hell would you want me to do? What would you think of me, Sister Kate if I took him up on his offer?_

The ghosts of the dead offered no answers for me, and I was left with the silence of my own thoughts.

* * *

Just as a note: These Milton Quotes are from Books 1 and 4 in _Paradise Lost_. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Aion glanced up from his paper as I walked into the dinning hall in the same clothes I had been given the night before. He didn't say anything; just held my gaze and waited for me to speak.

I refused to utter a word either though. Instead, I sat down and took a plate of pastries and poured myself a cup of coffee.

"Does this mean that you plan on staying?" he asked as he folded his paper and crossed his hands under his chin. The familiar smirk he always seemed to wear was there: as if he _knew_ what the answer was going to be.

"I have decided that for the time being I will stay. If only to keep an eye on you."

"I'll take that as a perfectly acceptable reason. Eat up, Mr. Remington. Today we're going to get you some new clothes."

"I heard that you don't wear anything other than your black top and white pants."

"I don't. But I'm certain that you don't want to be wearing the deceased baron's clothes."

I looked down at the white shirt, blue vest and blue pants again. "These belonged to Baron Alessandro?"

"Yes, they did. I just never removed them from the closet to make it appear that I had some other forms of clothing. I admit to owning a few suits for formal meetings and parties though," he replied as he sipped at his coffee and went back to reading his paper.

I just shook my head and returned to my pastries. "If the baron's clothes fit then I'll wear them. There's no point in wasting your perfectly good money in buying me clothes that I'll probably never use."

"You still have to own a few good suits. For parties and the like."

"Why do I have to attend parties?"

"Consider it a form of payment for the time being. I let you stay here, you attend parties with me," he said as he adjusted his glasses and frowned over something in the paper.

"Care to share?" I asked as I took a bite of my food. It tasted like heaven.

"Stocks. I'll let you have the paper in a minute, but there's supposed to be something in here about a new contract with my business."

His lavender eyes flicked over the headlines, but his frown only deepened. With a disgusted sigh, he folded the paper and pushed it over to me before draining his coffee cup. Obviously something had upset him.

Picking it up, I skimmed over the articles, but I had no idea what the problem was. Everything that was mentioned seemed like good news. I lifted an eyebrow at him, but the devil said nothing. He seemed too intent on thinking over something to notice me, or really anything else around him.

So, I went back and read over the articles more carefully, and then it hit me: there was nothing in the paper about the company that he worked for. There was a possibility that it had been in the paper the day before, but since I hadn't been able to procure one, it was impossible for me to know.

"You'll have to forgive me, but it looks like I need to go and check on this. I'll have Gabriel accompany you to Rome," he said as he stood up and left the room.

A moment later, and the dusty blonde entered and smiled at me.

"I hear that I am now accompanying you to Rome, Mr. Remington. Well, since Baron Aion has allowed me the privilege of using his credit card, I can think of a few places to stop at. I don't think that he shall be missing the money."

I grinned back at the young man and shook my head. "I already told him that I'll just wear the clothes he has in his closet. I was informed that I would need a few nice suits for 'parties and the like.'"

"In that case, I know the perfect tailor to go to. Also, Mr. Remington, may I be so bold as to make a suggestion regarding your appearance?"

I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms. "Fire away. I've been living on the streets for a while, so any suggestions would be considered."

Gabriel clasped his hands behind his back and looked me straight in the eye. "We here at the Alessandro Estate think that you need a haircut. We noticed that you had shaved after taking your shower, and we all thought that that was a much needed improvement, but your hair…," he trailed off, and I couldn't help be laugh a little bit at him.

"Fine. I'll get a hair cut."

"Good. I'll be waiting for you."

By the time I stepped outside, Gabriel was already waiting for me with Ambrogino in the car. It seemed that either the two of them were fast friends, or that Gabriel couldn't drive, and thus the Italian man was forced to be his chauffeur. I got into the vehicle and we started the long drive towards Rome.

I was also able to get a few words out of Ambrogino during this trip. As I suspected, he only spoke Italian, and truly, he didn't speak much. He did tell me that yes: his job was to drive either Baron Aion or Gabriel around. I asked why he had to drive our friend around, and he didn't respond. Instead, the person in question gave me a smile and explained that he was something of a Public Relations person for the baron outside of the company.

We pulled into the city, our driver told us to call when we finished and he'd fine us. He promptly left to do whatever it was he did while waiting for his passengers, and thus, I was left with my new friend in the city that I had spent the last fifty years of my life in.

As Gabriel and I walked through the heart Rome, I couldn't help but notice that many of the poverty stricken people that hid in the shadows were looking at me. It seemed as if they _knew_ that I had turned away from that life, only to sell myself to the devil to gain something better.

**And for what** They seemed to ask, their eyes demanding me to answer them. **So that you can have nicer clothes, a soft bed and food that you don't even need?**

_They haven't been here since 1946_, I thought bitterly. _They don't know what it's like to watch as everything changes around you and you stay unchanged. I deserve this small bit of pleasure. It's not like I'm hurting anyone._

"Mr. Remington? Are you alright?" my companion asked, and I nodded.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking about something. Now, where is this Brioni you were telling me about on the drive?"

Maybe I had paled, or perhaps I appeared dazed, but he stopped me. For what felt like hours, but was more than likely only a moment, his brown eyes darted across my face, as if he were checking on me.

"Gabriel, I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me," I told him as he took a step back from me, as if to assess my whole body.

"It's just…This is going to sound very strange, but when you were looking at the ground just a second ago, I felt this wave of anger come off you. I admit, I haven't known you that long, but it felt so _wrong_ coming from you. At the estate, we've come to expect it once in a while from Baron Aion, but from you? It just doesn't seem to fit your character."

What he said hit a chord with me. I had been _that_ upset that he had noticed it? I had never been one to let my emotions get the better of me. If anything, that particular point had been why I was allowed to stay with the Magdalene Order for such a long time. Some of the younger angels had been too volatile to allow among mortals for long periods of time. I was the calm one. The one that never did anything _too_ rash.

"I was just thinking about something. I'm sorry if I appeared angry, because that was hardly my intent. Why don't we just forget about this whole thing, and go find that shop? We'll pick something up for you too."

Gabriel relented, and led me towards the boutique. It really was beautiful, and even from the outside, the building spoke volumes about the type of people that shopped there: people that hadn't lived on the streets, people that had more money than they knew what to do with, people that probably didn't know that demons and angels still walked the world.

My friend led me inside, and after being introduced to the owner (apparently Aion had come on a few occasions, and the limits—or rather, lack thereof—of his credit card were well known) I was taken back and measured.

I decided on four new suits, and thankfully for me, Gabriel refused to let me see the bill. He told me that it was enough to feed a small nation for a few days, and while I know that he was joking, somehow I don't doubt that it was an extraordinary amount.

"You don't need to worry about it. It's the baron's treat," he told me as we left.

"I've never spent several thousand dollars on anything," I replied as we walked down the sidewalk, presumably to a barber.

"I would say get used to it, but you almost never do. It still boggles my mind that Baron Aion spends hundreds of dollars on a single bottle of wine that he never intends to drink. At least with the food I can somewhat understand. There's nothing better than freshest food that money can buy," he told me with a whimsical look on his face.

"You eat the same food as he does?"

"He insists that we're all equal and that we should all eat the same things. He's just…well, he's _anal_ about his liquor."

I laughed and we walked on in silence for a while. Still, I couldn't escape the inevitable hair cut that I had planned out. I rather liked my hair the length it was at, but perhaps it too was nothing more than a reminder of a past that I didn't want to give up. I mean, I had made it long soon after leaving the Order, and I had just kept it that way. Soon enough though, we stopped in front of a barber, and Gabriel just looked at me. He seemed to be saying, "You promised to get it cut; now here we are. Are you a man of your word?"

With a sigh, I walked into the tiny establishment, and took a seat. A few minutes later, I strolled out only to see my friend standing by the door with two ice cream cones and a smile.

"Much better. I already called Ambrogino, so he'll be by in a short while. Ice cream?"

When we got back to the estate, Gabriel said he had some business to attend to, and I decided that I wanted to go back to the library. But going to the library meant passing that statue again, and the pure emotion captured in the piece wouldn't leave my mind.

So, as I passed by it, I couldn't help but stop and look at it again. There were three demons clearly depicted as fighting the angels, but another one was turned and was battling against the hordes of demons behind his crew. It reminded me of the story Chrono told of the Sinner's escape…except there had been no angels involved in that. God didn't think it was a large enough revolt to warrant divine intervention.

"It's a representation of a story young devils were told in Pandemonium."

I look over my shoulder to see Aion standing behind me with a glass of scotch in each hand.

"Everything is fine with the company. They just decided to delay the announcement for a few days while some specifics are worked out. Everyone was made well aware of the fact that I wasn't pleased with being left out of the loop," the devil explained before he handed me one of the drinks and started his story about the sculpture despite my not having asked him about it.

"The story goes that a demon woke up one day realizing that he had never seen the world above. He spoke with the nobles about going up, and they refused to listen to him. So, he went to Pandemonium and asked her if she remembered what the world looked like. Some say that she told him that the world was a beautiful place, and others insist that she said nothing at all, but instead began to cry, as if she longed to tell the demon, but couldn't.

"He convinced three of his brethren to accompany him as he went to the surface, and they agreed. However, as they left, the nobles sent the soldiers after the rogues. Unbeknownst to the nobles though, God decided to send his angels to keep the rogues from entering Earth. So, as the demon and his friends attempted to flee, they were attacked on both fronts: angels to their front, devils to their rear. Thankfully for them, as soon as the horde of demons saw the angels, they started to attack them.

"The general thought is that the demon and his companions never made it to Earth. However, there are some who believe that the demon did survive and looked upon the world with awe. He was heavily wounded, but he was able to change his form and look like a human."

"Interesting story. I wouldn't have guessed that we were sent to fight four rogues. He made it sound like we were to be fighting the horde," I said as I sipped at the scotch.

"Isn't your God supposed to be omnipotent? If He is, then obviously He knew that the demons would come up, and probably a few of them would have made a run for it themselves. My guess is that He wanted you to tame the devil population and remind them who the superior race is," the demon said before he started to walk towards the library. I followed him silently, more out of interest to his story than for any other reason.

"You almost said that as a compliment," I told him as I sat down in the same seat I had used the day before.

"Did I? I hardly meant it as one," he replied with a smirk as he went searching through his collection to pull out two worn books. One he handed to me and the other he kept for himself.

As I opened it up though, my heart skipped a beat as I saw that it was an ancient Bible written in Latin.

"Aion, how old is this book?"

"Not as old as you think. I want to say that it was translated from the original Greek works in the early 1600's. So while it is still old, it's not so old as to have a heat attack over the fact that I have it out. I'm almost sad that I couldn't procure an original Erasmus copy, but this version is about as reliable as it can be," he answered as he sat down in the opposite chair and opened his own book.

I was just about to start reading when Aion began speaking again.

"I never did tell you the name of the demon, did I?"

"No, you didn't. Should I care?"

"The stories all say that his name was Adam. If that's the case, and he did survive, then there is a good chance that the one that all the humans call the first man was in fact a demon."

I looked at him and frowned, but I didn't say anything.

"Just something to think over, Remington. I'll let you go back to your book," he smirked.

It was late by the time the maid came and told us that dinner was ready. The whole time we had just been reading, though I did intend to find out more over the meal. It just didn't feel right to break the comfortable silence of the library.

As we sat down on opposite sides of the table, the demon looked at me, and arched an eyebrow.

"Well?" he asked, "aren't you going to ask me something? You're not as good as you think when it comes to hiding your emotions. "

"I was just wondering who painted the mural in the library and who made the demon and angel sculpture. They're both very intricate."

Aion ate a little before answering. "The angel and demon piece was commissioned by Baron Alessandro, and I never learned the identity of its crafter. I would say that a demon made it though, judging by the depiction of the devils and the story it's about.

"As for the _Dante's Inferno_ mural…that too was commissioned by the late baron, but the artist was a young man named Georgio. I have no idea what happened to him, but it seems he was something of a disturbed young man."

"How do you know that the baron wasn't the disturbed one?"

"Oh, he was. After all, it does take a man without a soul or a love of God to bring back the leader of the Sinners. However, it was the young man that did all of the torture scenes. The Baron just wanted an _Inferno _piece for his library."

"So you were brought back to life via a contract," I said, and he nodded even though it wasn't a question.

"Yes, the baron brought me back from the grave with a contract. Not that death was as bad as I thought it would be, but it isn't nearly as entertaining as being alive."

"Why were you at Saint Peter's Basilica that day than?"

"He let me go off for a day. I was just wondering around."

"You just happened to be there the day Pope John Paul II was shot?"

"Yes."

He wasn't telling me the truth, but I knew that I wasn't going to be able to pry it out of him. He only revealed information when it was the most beneficial to him. Hell, I was lucky that he admitted as to how he came back to life.

There was no further conversation that night, and I went up to my room quietly. As I went to change, I noticed a set of blue silk night clothes with a note in neatly written script.

I noticed that you didn't have any other clothes.

I'll be certain to have you pick out some more suits tomorrow.

Aion

That night the new clothes sat on a chair near my bed. I still didn't know how far I was willing to sell myself to him.


	3. Chapter 3

Back once again for chapter 3. Sorry that this took so long to get out, but I was never really happy with how it turned out, and to be frank, I'm still not overly pleased with it. However, it's better than it started out being. I still feel that there are pacing issues with this chapter, but I can't put my finger down on it. So, if I can get my sister to look at this over spring break and changes are made, than I'll edit as soon as I can.

That said, thank you to everyone who's read this story and to everyone who's reviewed. To see that I've gotten a review makes me smile and lets me know that there are people that enjoy my little foray into what might have happened between Remington and Aion.

Disclaimer: Chrono Crusade is owned by Daisuke Moriyama.

* * *

Chapter 3

The days passed by, and little by little, I found myself slipping into a routine. Every morning I would get up, take a shower, clean myself up, and then I would head towards the dinning room. I would pour myself a cup of coffee, eat a pastry or two, and read the paper. Usually I would meet Aion there, or I would find some message (either written in his too neat script or a verbal one left with one of his "people") saying that he had already left for work and he'd be back by seven.

So until he did return, I tended to waste my days in the library until he came back, though I was known to wander around the grounds for hours on end as well. None of the maids and man servants understood why I did it. But than again, they just seemed to view me as a very long term visitor. Gabriel (and on occasion, Ambrogino) was the only one that had any interest in me it seemed.

Other than of course, Aion.

Some nights the two of us sat for ages in his sitting room talking about nothing in particular. These talks usually involved too much scotch and something strange in the news that had caught our attention. However, there were evenings when the past came up. To me, they were bitter sweet memories that I didn't want to drudge up in conversation. To Aion, they were links to an era he had missed.

He tried to find out what happened to Rosette and Chrono with light pokes and prods, but that was line of conversation I never followed through on. As far as I was concerned, those two had earned their rest from the leader of the Sinners, and he didn't need to know about their time together. It didn't stop him from trying though.

When he asked about Joshua I relented. He had, after all, spent four years with the apostle, and Aion had taken care of him…even if at the end the poor boy had ended up broken and clinging to whispers of memories that tormented his child-like mind.

"What happened to him, after I died?" he asked one night rather suddenly. I don't recall what we had been speaking of, but it had been far removed from the events of 1929. We had been laughing, so why the somber topic of one of our mutual companions came up, I don't know.

"Which him, Aion? I've already told you, I'm not going to speak about Chrono."

"No, not _him_," he said. "_Joshua. _What happened to Joshua?"

I sighed and leaned forward in my chair. "He was never really _right_ after he had the horns removed, you know. It's almost as though in order to save himself he went back to the time before he met you and Chrono…He couldn't fully remember anything about what had happened, but if you talked to him at the right time, he would catch glimpses of memories he once had. He was happy if nothing else. He always had a smile on his face, and he was always talking about a new story idea he had when I came home from work."

"You two lived together?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious.

I nodded. "Yeah, after I left the Order I became his guardian seeing as how he didn't have any living relatives that could care for him. I was there for him until '42, and then I was deployed. I don't know how, because it should have shown up that I had a dependent. So, I was sent here to Italy and Joshua was sent to a hospital," I said before standing up and pacing. Even just _thinking _about Rosette's little brother made me feel unbelievable regret. As though I had failed him just like I had failed his sister and Chrono.

"What happened to him after you were deployed, Remington?" Aion asked. It sounded more like a demand than a question.

"I got a letter one day saying that he had gotten sick. I sent inquiry after inquiry trying to figure out what the problem was, but they didn't have an answer until it was too late. At first it was, 'We don't know. It could be a tumor' and then about two months after my first letter, 'We think it's a tumor' over and over again. Finally I got one from him saying that he missed me and he felt so tired and strange. It was the last thing I ever received from him when I knew that it was still _him _and not the drugs.

"About three months after that letter arrived the hospital sent me one last missive saying that he had passed away. They didn't say too much about it other than he had passed in his sleep and the tumor had been inoperable.

"I contacted the Order and Kate helped me make arrangements for him. He's not next to Rosette and Chrono, but he's at a place that he loved to go to. I never went back though. As far as I was concerned, there was no reason to. The rest, I think, you can figure out on your own."

The Sinner sat quietly for a long time, apparently contemplating what I had told him. He almost looked…sad. "Do you blame yourself?"

I shrugged. "Some days are worse than others."

"I once told Chrono that as survivors we have an obligation to keep moving forward. It was true then and it's true now. Joshua wouldn't want you regretting the past. Rosette and Chrono wouldn't either. Sometimes you have to let go of the past so that you can progress with the future."

"Are you telling me to forget them and move on with my life?"

Aion shook his head. "I'm just telling you that you need to let go of your regrets. You can't feel bad for every person you weren't able to save. All the other Sinners died so that I might try and continue our dream of destroying Pandemonium. Their sacrifice gave me the opportunity to be where I am today. You never forget, Remington, you just keep going."

He got up and left, leaving me to go over his words again and again. Damn it. How was it that he always seemed to know exactly what to say? He had known what to say to the people in San Francisco after the destruction of Chrono's and Joshua's battle (even if it wasn't what they had needed to hear).

I admit, sometimes people need soft reassurances instead of the cold truth, but in the end, the truth still needs to be told. Aion had a way about him that made you believe fantasy over reality. That the reassurances were, in fact, legitimate, and that reality was the lie.

The sad thing was, I was really beginning to like his version of the truth better than my own.

That next morning, I was able to get up for the first time in decades and not feel like I had done something wrong. I looked outside, _smiled_ and got ready to face the day. When I went down stairs, I felt like I could mean it when I said, "Good morning" to the maids and butlers.

The change in my countenance must have been more obvious than even I realized because Aion asked if I had finally woken up on the proper side of the bed. I didn't say anything in response, but he gave me a smirk and went back to reading the paper like he always did in the mornings.

"I was wondering," I began and the devil raised an eyebrow, "when do you have your first business party?"

The smirk returned. "In two days. Gabriel went to pick up your suits this morning, so look nice."

"Fine, just as long as you try and not be a smug bastard."

"I'll attempt to, but it's so hard to change such a crucial part of one's personality."

I smiled and started to eat. Yes, for the first time in decades, I no longer felt like I had something to prove to the ones that time had forgotten: And it felt damn good.


	4. Chapter 4

Well, here's chapter four. I can't say that this does a ton to move the plot forward (that should be coming in the next chapter) but there are a few things in here that will come up again.

I apologize for the long wait...but Super Smash Brothers is way too much fun for it's own good and has too many things to do.

I want to say thank you to everyone who's reviewed and read this story. As I said before, it means a lot to me, even if you don't say anything.

Disclaimer: Chrono Crusade is owned by Daisuke Moriyama.

Chapter 4

I looked at myself in the mirror in my room and considered changing for the fifth time that night. It wasn't that the suits weren't nice—on the contrary, they were superb—it's just I was beginning to have doubts about going. The library with a nice old book and the shadows playing off that wickedly beautiful Inferno mural seemed more enjoyable at that moment than attending a party with people whom I didn't know at all.

I was just about to pull the jacket off and grab another one when I saw Gabriel stick his head in and snicker at me.

"What?"

"You know that you're acting like a woman just before her first big date, right?"

I frowned and grabbed the jacket again. "I am not. I just don't know which suit to wear."

"Mr. Remington?"

"Yes?"

"You only have four, and two of them are black. You look fine in the one you have on. Come on, the baron is waiting for you."

One more pull on the jacket and tie and Gabriel ushered me out of my room and down the grand staircase. "You look fine you know," he told me as I walked down the stairs and towards the large double doors.

"It's not how I look that has me worried, but rather, how I respond to my surroundings," I replied as he opened the doors and took me outside to the waiting limo.

"Have fun now, and try not to come back with too many girls. The poor maids hate having to clean up after parties," he grinned before I stepped into the awaiting vehicle.

"How many times did you change?"

As I settled into the car I looked at Aion. He had been waiting for me a while it seemed as he had already poured himself a glass of champagne and had downed three-fourths of it.

"A few. I was nervous about the party."

The Sinner smirked and finished his drink before crossing his legs and leaning back. He wasn't wearing his usual white trench coat. He was still wearing a white suit—at this point I don't think that I could even imagine him not wearing white in his human form—but it was much more form fitting, and he was wearing an actual tie instead of a cravat. It was still grey, but once again, it just fit him too well.

I started to fidget once again, and he raised an eyebrow at me. "If you keep doing that you'll wrinkle the suit. All you have to do is look pretty and occasionally make conversation if someone talks to you."

"Is that all you do?"

He laughed and asked the driver (probably Ambrogino, as always) to play some opera. He was ignoring my question, which suggested to me that maybe he had done the exact same thing he had just requested of me. Perhaps he had been the late baron's show piece just like I seemed to be to him now.

I didn't know though. He didn't talk about Alessandro just as I didn't speak of Rosette and Chrono.

For the next twenties minutes Aion began to talk to me about who would be there, or rather, who should be there and what they looked like.

"Just so you know," he said.

I nodded and listened to him, and I tried to create images of the people I was to meet, but I couldn't fully understand why he was giving me such information. I wanted to ask him, but before I had a chance to, we pulled into a large hotel and an attendant came up to the car and opened the door.

We were quickly ushered inside, and upon entering the lobby, Aion was practically besieged by people. He seemed to take it all in stride, but I felt suffocated by the sudden crowd.

"Baron, I would like to apologize once again for failing to properly communicate…"

"Mr. Aion, it's just wonderful to see you again! I was just…"

"Ah, Baron Aion! Pleasure to meet you again! Perhaps we can…"

He calmly spoke to each individual that came up to him before looking at me. The look seemed to be more of a "see at what I have to put up with?" than anything else, and it helped me to relax a little.

I would say he spoke with twenty people before saying that he hated to leave, but he was needed elsewhere. There was an audible groan, as if these people knew that they wouldn't have an opportunity to speak with him again, and they couldn't bear the thought of it. He thanked them for their kindness, and then started to walk towards the dining hall. I quickly followed him, but as I did, I could hear whispers from the crowd that had been left behind.

"Who's that?"

"It doesn't look like his publicist."

"He's rather handsome, don't you think?"

"This is what they always do. They're not formally invited to the party, but they can get into the lobby. They corner me, and I talk to them for a short while. It makes them feel wanted, and usually produces some sort of benefit for the company in the end," the Sinner explained as I took one final glance at the swarm.

"They act like a pack of hungry wolves," I replied.

"They are in a way. They're hungry for the attention. They like being noticed by the 'Silver Tongued Baron'. This way. I can see the CEO and President," he said as he led me to a large table with several men sitting at it already.

I shook their hands, and the introductions were made to the men and their wives. I was beginning to understand why my host had gone through the trouble of describing these people to me. They were very easy to remember after recalling his description and then placing it with a face.

The men didn't pay too much attention to me after the initial introduction, and instead turned their conversation onto business and politics. The women, however, couldn't get enough of me it seemed. They asked me all sorts of questions like, did I have a wife or fiancé, or, where did I work.

The former was easy enough to answer: No, I did not have a significant other at this point in my life, but the latter… I didn't think that it would be right for me to say that I had been unemployed for the past few years, so I told them that I was a freelancer. They seemed to accept this, but it startled me as to how easily the lie came out.

Than came the inquiry that I was truly dreading. "How do you know the baron? Most people only know him through business," the president's wife asked, and I felt the blood leave my face.

"We met at college. He happened to be in the neighborhood, and I invited him to stay with me for a time," Aion chimed in before returning to his own line of conversation, as if he had never butted in at all.

"Really? Has he always been this way?" the CEO's wife questioned, her eyes bright with anticipation for my answer.

"Well, that would depend on what you mean," I began.

"Has he always been this smooth and engaging?"

I thought about it for a moment and then I nodded. "He's been this way for as long as I've known him."

I glanced at the Sinner, and he smirked. I took it to mean that he approved of my comment, because he didn't say anything. Truth be it, that wasn't what I wanted to say. I had wanted to ask her if she meant, "Arrogant and manipulative", but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Maybe because I was seriously beginning to doubt those claims myself.

"I have to ask, have you ever done anything famous?" one of the women said as I took a sip from my drink.

"I don't understand what you mean by that."

"Well, have you ever been in a movie or done any kind of modeling? Maybe written a book?"

"No. I must just have one of those faces."

"Like Aion! People are always asking him if he's a movie star."

"People have more than likely seen my face in the paper, Mrs. Moretti. They confuse me with politicians and the like," Aion said.

"But those silly Americans thought that you were a star."

"That's because they were American. They see a pretty face and they instantly assume that they must be modeling," her husband chuckled.

Most of the table followed suit, and I noticed how hollow it sounded. The Sinner had only smirked (it had been a feeble one at that) and I barely managed a smile. The comment hadn't been that funny, but they all laughed.

It was a trend that I would notice whenever I went to these parties. Someone important would make a shabby attempt at humor, and no matter what, everyone would laugh. Everyone, that is, except Aion.

X X X

We talked long into the night, but I was never directly addressed again. It was as the demon had told me in the limo, "All you have to do is look pretty." I wonder now if he had been attempting to save me the boredom and stress of figuring out what to say and to whom.

That didn't stop the women in the hall from trying to catch my eye. Oh, I noticed a few of them pull their dresses down a little bit further just to get that _hint_ of cleavage out there for me to see, and more than one shifted her leg to show off the high slit in her designer dress. But not once did they come over to talk to me.

I suppose that they didn't want to embarrass their dates too much.

It was around one O'clock when the guests started to clear out, and Aion and I were some of the first to leave, stating that, "I have to make certain that I review that new proposition." If nothing else, it worked and our limo pulled up to the door.

"Well?" he asked once we were settled in and driving off.

"How did I like it? It was dull."

He smirked and nodded. "They always are. At least you didn't have women 'accidentally' falling into your lap," he sighed and shook his head at what must have been a particularly dreadful memory.

"I think they were just trying to discreetly undress themselves for me."

"But that's somewhat humorous, because they won't truly do anything from afar. They can't without completely embarrassing both themselves and their significant other. When they fall on your lap, they take the opportunity to feel you up."

I couldn't help but laugh. Just the idea of the Leader of the Sinners getting groped by attention seeking women was entertaining.

"Is this what I'll have to put up with for the time being?"

"Yes, because it looks better to have someone accompany me."

"Why not ask Gabriel?"

"Gabriel…he's too good at charming the ladies. It's all fine until you realize that he's gone off somewhere with the fiancé of the owner of your newest business partner.

"See, you wouldn't do that, Remington. You know not to get personal with the people whom you do business with."

"I'm not doing business with them though. I'm just here to look pretty."

"But you understand my meaning."

"Of course I do. I worked at the Order for decades. You don't involve yourself in relationships with people that you work with. That's just how it works."

Aion leaned back into the seat and closed his eyes. "Precisely," he said.

X X X

As we arrived back at the estate, I noticed Gabriel sitting outside on the steps, apparently waiting for us. He smiled at us as we got out of the vehicle, but his smile seemed to diminish when Aion shut the door behind him.

"No ladies tonight?"

"This was mostly a company meeting. I'm not allowed to fraternize with people that are my subordinates. You know that," the Sinner growled as he opened the front door and pulled off his white coat.

"You didn't tell me that it was _just_a company meeting, baron. I apologize for my ignorance," the other blonde grinned, though something about his countenance suggested that he wasn't that happy. Judging by the tone of his voice upon asking if we had brought home any guests, he was used to having someone to entertain after a party.

"Well, I hope that you both enjoyed yourselves. Have a good night," he said somewhat surly.

"Get some rest, Remington. Tomorrow we'll take it easy."

I was about to go to my room and call it a night when I saw Gabriel sitting at the end of the hall.

"Are you alright?" I called to him as I loosened my tie and went over to him.

"Wha…? Oh, I'm fine," he replied, though his smile lacked its usual muster. "I was just thinking."

"Do you mind if I ask you about what?"

"It's just…the way Aion acts around you…that's how he used to treat me. I was there for everything. I was his buddy. He made me his publicist, and everything was still great. A few months ago he started to get distant, and then he sent me on this wild goose chase to find you. Now? Now's he doing the same thing he did with me. I'm just wondering if he's going to get into a habit of this."

"How long has he known you?"

"He became my guardian when I was seven. How long has he known you?" he inquired darkly.

"We never really _knew_ each other so much as we just often were involved with the same people. It was a long time ago too."

"So our circumstances aren't similar at all."

I nodded. "So it would seem. Look; if it's bothering you with how much time he's been spending with me, talk to him. He'll probably listen."

"He's much too good at ignoring people."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It was something that Baron Alessandro told me. If Aion doesn't want to listen, he won't. He's really good at it."

"Still, there's no harm in trying, right?"

The younger man shrugged and started towards his own quarters. "You're right. Sorry to bother you with my woes."

"It's fine, Gab. Sometimes you just need to talk. Night."

"Night."

_He's much too good at ignoring people_. Those words kept ringing through my mind as I turned in and started to undress. Maybe it just had to do with his business policies, I thought.

But the part of me that was still suspicious of the Sinner made me think about the other possibilities such a statement could have…at least in regards to the past. Not listening to the Duke, not listening to Chrono… Well, at least with other demons Aion had a history of not listening. But it seemed that he clearly listened to things that were of his same thought process.

Like Milton's Satan.

* * *

As usual, if you see any errors please let me know. I've been trying to read through the chapters a few times each just to catch things, but reading and writting at 9:30 at night is usually not the best way to notice errors.


	5. Chapter 5

I really did want to get this up last week, but the disjointed nature of this chapter was making me reconsider what I wanted to do with it. The issue I had was that the middle part was written first, than the last part, and the opening section was written last. So, it was written in a strange matter in the first place, and just kept its weird structure.

There was also an issue of a bag that shows up in the last chapter of this section. So, I had to figure out a way to actually introduce it.

Anyway, lira (or the plural, lire) was the name of the currency of Italy before the euro was introduced. Also, I have to say that we start to notice Remington's bitterness towards God in this chapter. It's not as bad as will be encountered later in the story, but it's there, and I don't mean to insult anyone with it. I just feel that Remington has not forgotten (or forgiven for that matter) the matter concerning Rosette and Chrono, and he never will.

I want to thank my sister for beta-ing this chapter for me, because she noticed things that I still missed even after reading this over five times. I also want to thank those of you who reviewed the last chapter (OtherCat1, squishy the jellyfish, and snekochan).

Disclaimer: I do not own Chrono Crusade. CC is the property by Daisuke Moriyama.

* * *

Chapter 5

Days passed into weeks, and soon three months had passed us by. I've already told you the routine I had slipped into, and other than parties, that's more or less what my life consisted of. On occasion Gabriel and I did go to Rome, and I learned to be like Aion and ignore people.

Or at least I tried to. There were too many instances where I handed out a few lire to the homeless. It seemed that I was still capable of guilt if nothing else.

"I don't get why you do it," Gabriel told me one day in early September as we walked through the streets. It was a chilly morning and I had already handed out a fair amount of cash. I figured they could go and get something warm to eat.

"Why I hand out the money?"

"Yeah. Most of these people are probably just pick pockets. There's no point in helping them."

"It's the least I can do."

"Does this have anything to do with your time on the streets?"

I shrugged. "I'd say so. There was always a part of me that wanted someone to help me out. Why shouldn't I do that now that I have the ability to?"

Gabriel smiled and laughed. "Hold on then. You just reminded me that I need to go get something."

"I'll be at Saint Peter's than."

The younger man just nodded and I walked towards the Vatican. We weren't far from the ancient square and basilica, and that was something else Gabriel didn't understand. I insisted that we go whenever we went to Rome. All he could do was shake his head and sigh whenever I said it. He generally didn't ask questions about why I wanted to go there, so he must have just thought that it was one of my quirks.

He didn't need to know that my life had more or less restarted at this point on that May day in 1981. He didn't need to know that I had spent countless hours slinking in the shadows, waiting to see if Aion would show his face one more time. It was a personal matter in the end, and he just went along with it.

He once asked if I came here to worship, and if that was the case, Ambrogino would be more than happy to take me to a Sunday Mass.

I told him rather bluntly that I didn't talk with God anymore, and I hadn't for a long time. He didn't ask about my religious preferences after that.

As I walked around the square, I took in the grand architecture. I don't know how many times I've seen the buildings, but they _are_ inspiring. After all, who builds grand churches just to prove that you're loyal to a deity that you've never seen?

"Remington!" I looked over my shoulder and saw Gabriel coming towards me. He had a package tucked under his arm, and as usual, he seemed happy.

"Do you…never mind," he began, and I knew what he had been going to ask.

"It's alright. I just like looking at the Basilica. Over three hundred years old and still in good shape."

"I suppose so. I personally think it's a little too ornate. I mean, I don't think that God cares what the place you worship at looks like."

Well, you're right about that, I thought. He does like the tithes though.

"Could you tell me why you like coming here so much? You don't worship God, you've seen the Basilica enough to describe it in perfect detail, and…,"Gabriel began before I cut him off.

"You don't need to worry your pretty little head about it. This place just has special significance for me. That's all."

Gabriel looked at me, but there was a light in his eyes that I can't forget. I can't even describe it properly, though it must have been sorrow that I saw there, because his voice certainly sounded sad. He wasn't smiling either, which usually indicated that something was upsetting him.

"Ewan, I just wish that you were a little more open with me. I know that you haven't known me for that long, but I consider you to be one of my best friends. I'vehad to live with a lot of shadows and secrets and…fuck it: You don't have to worry about me telling Aion. Just…just open up a little bit."

I slung an arm around the younger man and walked him away from the square.

"I'm glad that you can trust me enough to call me one of your best friends, Gab, but just know that I _can't_ open myself up. If I did, you'd probably get hurt, and I don't want that to happen to you."

"What, were you part of the Mafia or something like that?"

I laughed and shook my head. "I knew some pretty powerful people, yeah, but no one in the Mafia. At least, I don't _think_ anyone was in the Mafia."

He lightened up after that and after a quick call to Ambrogino we returned to the estate.

That night he gave me the package he had had under his arm: It was an old leather pouch.

"So you have something to carry your gifts in," he said, and I thanked him. He was probably just being ironic, but I still had to appreciate it: an old leather bag for the man that could now afford just about any thing he wanted. What more could I ask for?

X X X

The library was like my other home. It was quiet, it was peaceful, and I was only ever bothered there by three people: the maid that told me when a meal was ready, Gab when he wanted to tell me something or just get me out of the mansion, and Aion. Aion usually just came to sit and read with me though. He never truly bothered me.

"You have to have a favorite passage," he asked one day.

I looked up from my reading of the good book and glanced at the Sinner. We never spoke to each other while we were in the library. Sure, there had been a few exceptions, but they were just that: exceptions. Silence ruled the large room, and that's how we both liked it. He read whatever he wanted to pull out that day, and I tended to either read his old Latin Bible or something else hypocritical. So, his asking what my favorite Biblical passage happened to be took me back for a few moments.

"And if I said that I didn't have one?"

"You'd be lying. See, I've read _Paradise Lost_ a hundred times and I have my favorite parts. I do believe it to be impossible to not have a favorite part in something as epic as _The Bible_."

I frowned and thought about it for a while. Honestly, I had never thought about having a favorite passage. I just read the Holy Book because I enjoyed it. And because the copy he was letting me borrow was about as authentic as they came.

"If I had to pick a favorite….it would be the Temptation."

"Irony never sounded so sweet, Remington. Tell me, were you one of the angels that helped Christ after the 'Devil'," he smirked as he said that word, "finished tempting him?"

"Would it matter if I was?"

"As I said, Remington, 'irony never sounded so sweet.'"

"So says the demon that denounces God and then asks why he has been forsaken."

Aion smiled and shifted his tattered copy of _The Prince_ onto his other knee. "I never did say that I was without a sense of the dramatic, did I?"

"You don't say a lot of things."

"Words just get in the way. I find actions to be of more importance. Unless, of course, one is being dramatic or one is doing business."

"You're dramatic quite often then, aren't you?"

He just smirked and went back to reading Machiavelli.

X X X

I often found myself being dragged to corporate parties and speaking with people with whom I had nothing in common. I tried to keep the rule of "just look pretty" always close to my mind, but sometimes that was impossible to do. They would ask me the most absurd things like: have I ever modeled, or was I in that fabulous new movie that just came out? I would always be polite and tell them the not-a-lie bits of my life, to which I always heard comments about how I _should_ act or I _should_ model.

It just went to prove that these people didn't actually listen to what was happening. They pretended that they did, and then they doled out their advice regardless of what had just been said to them (at least when Aion ignored you he was completely blunt about it. You _knew_ that he wasn't listening). Hell, once I explicitly told a woman that I had never modeled and never intended to do so. She told me that she thought that I would make a fantastic poster-boy for her company's new ad campaign. I gave her a friendly smile before I went and had the bar tender pour me a large glass of scotch. I had really developed too much of a fondness for Single Malt Scotch. At least I never had to pay for it.

"Take it easy on the liquor, Remington. I know that it's not easy for us to get intoxicated, but at the rate that you're going, I'll have to drag you out of here before the night is over," Aion told me as he too took some scotch to fill his empty glass.

"Don't these people disgust you? They never listen to what's being said. They just appear to do so and then they go and spew their nonsense like it was their God given right!" I growled, already feeling the affects of the drinks I had consumed that night. I was going on ten and didn't think that I would be stopping any time soon.

"Isn't it though? God let Adam and Eve screw themselves over. So, humanity may have the ability to learn, but they also have the ability to be superb jackasses, just like the first two humans," the Sinner responded calmly before he smiled at the bar tender who was giving us awkward glances.

"I'm just trying to figure out how the hell you can put up with these bastards. I've noticed that you don't like them either," I muttered as he led me away.

"I put up with them because I can use them. Shaderalways told me I had a talent for the spoken language. My CEO seems to think the same thing. You know, he invites these people for the sole purpose of having me talk to them. I told you once before, but I compliment them, I tell them what they want to hear, and they buy it. Remember at our first party how I said my speakingwith them usually produced something for the company? I've gotten so many contracts out of simple idle chatter that you wouldn't believe it.

"You don't have to like people, Remington. You just have to know what they want to hear so that you can free them from the clutches of their false idols."

His last statement made me think, but I brushed it aside after a few seconds. After all, he couldn't mean anything like before. Aion wasn't that obsessed with destroying Heaven and God…was he?

I pounded back my drink. Of course he wasn't obsessed with usurping what he believed to be a corrupt religion and world. He only meant that in a metaphorical sense. After all, he _did_ like to be dramatic.

* * *

I do admit to having a favorite line in this chapter, but that's just me. Um, since I have yet to completely read _The Bible _if anyone who reads this knows of some powerful quotes that relate to the content of the story, I would be more than appreciative to hear about them. _The Bible_ is on my long list of classics that I need to read, and other than the ones people use to make their points in debate topics, I admit to not having much experience with it.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry about the long wait for this chapter. Between AP testing and other school obligations, I was having a hard time finding time to sit and edit this chapter. I'm still not completely satisfied with it, and there are parts of it that I really like, and parts that I'm not so fond of. So, if you see me re-post it in the next few days or so, just know that I've been editing it again and I've more than likely made changes to it.

I'd like to thank OtherCat and squishy the jellyfish for reviewing, and OtherCat? Thank you so much for those recommendations. I will be implementing some of them in upcoming chapters.

Just as a warning, because some people can be touchy about this: There is a gay kiss in this chapter, and some talk of homosexuality.

Disclaimer: Chrono Crusade is owned by Daisuke Moriyama.

* * *

Chapter 6

It was early October when things changed. It was hardly anything drastic; it's only in retrospect that I even notice the changes at all. But the tone did begin to shift ever so slightly.

I found that Aion spent more and more time with me, and Gabriel started to drift further into the background. Oh, I still spent most of my days with the blond man, but there was something between us that I can't fully describe. A distance that seemed no amount of communication could bridge. We talked about trite things: Things that hadn't mattered in the past and would never matter in the future. At least, that's how I saw it after that evening in the hall. It wasn't like our original conversations had been incredibly deep anyway, but they at least had been genuine.

X X X

"You know," he said one day as we walked the grounds of the estate, "I don't know anything about your past."

"No, you don't," I answered, not _wanting_ to tell him anything. We had been over this before, but it was a topic that kept coming up. He must have thought that he'd eventually get something good out of me. Something more than the not-a-lie bits that I told everyone else to appease them.

"Well, I know that you didn't work for the mafia…"

I laughed and nodded, deciding that it was finally time to give him something else to grab at. "That's true…but I _did_ work for the Magdalene Order for a while."

"You worked for _them_? Then why the hell did we find you wandering out on the streets?"

"Let's just say that I had a massive falling out with their boss and I can't forgive him for the things he did."

"So, you hate them?" he asked, sounding perfectly serious.

"Hate's a bit strong, because I don't hate the Order so much as I dislike that more of my colleagues didn't question the judgment of our boss after the incident."

"Were you transferred over to the European branch system? I mean, that's the only reason I can think of an American being over here."

I shook my head. "No, I came here for something else." It wasn't a lie. It just wasn't the whole truth.

He smiled that happy, carefree grin he always seemed to have on, and punched my shoulder playfully. He was just like a little kid that had just discovered a new source of knowledge, and I couldn't help but smile along with him.

"There, was it really so hard just to tell me that? Dear God, the way you and Aion go about your pasts you'd think that you both committed murder and were hiding from the law!"

That's more or less true in one of our cases, I thought. Murder isn't good for a business resume, but I guess seventy years of pretending to be dead more or less makes those charges go away.

"To be frank, Gab, you haven't told me anything either," I said as we passed a fountain and made our way back to the mansion.

"There's really nothing to tell. I like women, good food, and having someone else drive me around," he said cheerfully.

"That's about you now, not your past."

"Is there really a difference?"

'The way you go about it indicates that you certainly think so."

He looked like he was about to respond to my comment when the master of the house appeared on the balcony overlooking the gardens. That was usually a good indication that we needed to go in and see what he wanted.

"I swear to God, I think he's got something going on for you," my friend grumbled as we headed towards the house.

"What?"

"You know, I think that he likes you, and his sexuality has always been a topic of conversation among us hired help. I mean, I can count on one hand the number of people he's brought back to the house."

"So why does that bring up topics of his sexuality?" I asked, not understanding where the younger man was going.

"Because he always seemed so bored after he was done with them. They'd leave and he'd walk around with this look of supreme dissatisfaction plastered on his face. You know the look I'm talking about, right?"

I shook my head. I had never witnessed his "look of supreme dissatisfaction" and I was pretty certain that I never wanted to.

"Have you talked to him about it?" I asked after a moment.

Gabriel looked at me with what can only be described as a face of horror. "Of course not! For one: we don't want to get fired. The other reason has to do with what he does. If his boss ever found out about his ambiguous sexuality, there's a good chance he'd be asked to leave the company. Mr. Moretti is a _very_ devote Catholic, and while he doesn't mind people having fun and sleeping around a little, he's huge on this whole 'my employees are straight' thing."

"Well, it is his company."

Gabriel shrugged, and Aion lifted an eyebrow as we walked up the stairs of the balcony.

"What were you two talking about?" he asked.

"Your look of supreme dissatisfaction. I was just making the comment that we hadn't seen it in some time," the human answered.

"Hmm, well I haven't been discontent for sometime, so there's no reason for me to show it, is there? Anyway, you and the rest of the staff have the night off. Remington and I are going out to eat. You don't need to tell Ambrogino to bring the limo around either."

"We get the night off?" Gabriel asked, his face beaming.

"Yes, but remember, 'govern well thy appetite, lest Sin surprise thee, and her black attendant Death," Aion said as the younger man started to go back into the house.

"That only applies to the Fruit of Knowledge, which was an apple. I don't think that women and clubbing are like apples. I mean, women are much more like pe…"

"It's the sinning part I was going after, Gabriel. I was not making a metaphor about fruit and women," the Sinner said quickly.

Gabriel just continued to smile as he left us alone.

"Why the special occasion?" I asked once I knew for certain no one would bother us.

"They need to go have their fun too. Plus, Gabriel's been moping about lately and allowing him to go out and socialize seems to cheer him up a bit. I do hate to see him upset."

"You take better care of him than he would like to admit I think."

"Well, he _is_ only twenty-four, and he's been at an American university for the past few years. I think that those silly self-centered Americans rubbed off on him. He'll come around eventually and realize that I've taken good care of him for as long as I've known him."

"He's told me that you two have grown apart lately," I said as I leaned back against the stone railing.

Aion rested his arms against the balustrade and looked out over the gardens. "We have, but that's only because I've tried to give him more freedom. He's a man now, and it's no longer my duty to take care for him. Yet, I still do, because I enjoy his company, and I _do_ care for him. Plus he reminds me of…," the demon trailed off before resuming his talking, "Well, it doesn't matter who he reminds me of. We have dinner reservation in an hour and we have to go." He straightened himself out and went into the house, where we were welcomed with yells of, "Mr. Christoph!"

Aion and I watched as maids and man-servants scurried around like headless chickens until the Sinner finally stopped one of them.

"What's Gabriel done this time?" he asked, sounding annoyed.

"Mr. Christoph told us that we have the night off, and now we can't find him to confirm that," the maid said, refusing to make eye contact with the demon, as if she didn't want to be wrong and thus suffer his wrath.

"You do. Now go and have fun for once."

The scurrying resumed as the hired help went off to do what they did when they free time.

"I didn't realize that the others called Gabriel by his last name," I commented as I followed the Sinner back outside and to his car garage.

"They only do when they really want to find something out. Otherwise call him by his first name. Now: which car do you want to take? You know that I'm rather partial to the F50 Ferrari myself, but that's only because they made so few of them."

I had been in Aion's garage a few times, and each time I went in it seemed that he had added a new vehicle to his already impressive collection. While the white Ferrari was not one his new cars, we hadn't taken it out for a drive yet.

"We might as well take the F50. You keep talking about it, and I have yet to fully experience the power of a V12 engine."

He just smirked and indicated that I should get in the automobile.

The trip to Rome never went by so fast.

X X X

We parked some ways from the restaurant once we finally arrived at the capital. Aion said it was just because he liked to walk, and he didn't want anything to happen to his beloved car. The evening was nice, so I had no complaints, though I was trying to figure out why he had gone to such lengths just to have a night alone with me.

I mean, we spent most of our nights together anyway, why give everyone the evening off and than take me to an expensive restaurant…unless what Gabriel said was actually true?

"Tell me, did you and Chrono ever have a relationship?" I asked once we were inside the chic bistro and seated.

"We were brothers-in-arms. If you mean a physical relationship, than certainly no: Chrono was always more of a ladies man," Aion said, though the tone he used for his last comment made me think that he hadn't quite liked that his comrade only had eyes for women.

"What about Rosette and Satella than? Why did you kiss them?"

The Sinner looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

"They were attractive young women. Why wouldn't I want to?"

"Because you rarely do anything without a damn good reason."

Aion stared at me for a long moment before finally responding. "Rosette tasted of pure power after her full transition into Mary. Do you know what pure power _tastes_ like? It's more intoxicating than any drug you could ever hope to use."

"Why that time in Central Park? She told me about it in confession."

"I needed to awaken the holy blood within her. If Chrono had just kissed her sooner then I wouldn't have had to kiss her, and my involvement with the Christophers would have been limited to helping Joshua and allowing Mary to reawaken."

"That doesn't explain what you did to Satella," I said as I watched the baron take a sip from the wine glass before him.

"I was being cruel to her. I will admit to that," he said. He certainly wasn't apologizing for his actions, and it hit me hard. I don't know why it did: I don't recall the devil saying that he was sorry for anything. If anything, he managed to turn to the tables when he did something wrong and make the innocent party feel guilty for actions they never committed.

Ultimately, it was just him being his usual manipulative self.

"Why do you suddenly want to know about my personal life? You've never taken interest in it before," he said as he finished off his wine and poured himself another glass.

"I'm just trying to understand why you did those things in the first place. Wouldn't those events qualify as business?"

He shook his head. "Business is when you deal with other people for financial gain. My hunting down the Apostles and destroying Mother was not business. That was duty. I see nothing wrong in mixing _duty_ and pleasure on occasion. Now, let's find something else to talk about, alright? This is not the topic of conversation I envisioned us having."

We didn't really talk the rest of the meal, other than to say that the food was excellent and the wine superb. There was nothing but silence as we left and walked back to his Ferrari.

I'm pretty sure that _that_ wasn't the topic of conversation he envisioned us having either.

X X X

We arrived back at the estate with too much on our minds and not enough to say to each other. All right: so Aion believed that duty was a branch far separated from business. I could understand that to an extent, but than again, my duty of protecting the Apostles had always been influenced by my business of hunting demons and working with the Order. There was no separating the two…even if I had _wanted_ to on a few occasions.

I had barely taken five steps into the house when I felt Aion's hand on my shoulder.

"Why did you ask me those things?" he asked, his voice surprisingly soft.

"Just trying to figure some things out."

"About me or about the past?"

"Both, because there are a lot of things that I don't understand about you, and I'm certain that if I knew your past motives better, I would comprehend you now."

He took off his white trench coat and carefully placed it on the nearby coat rack before looking at me.

"I went after the Apostles before to rid the world of a corrupted system and to create a new ending for the Apocalypse," he said calmly, though there were unspoken words hanging in the air.

"What aren't you saying, Aion? There's something you're leaving out," I demanded, not liking the faked stillness.

"I want to find them once more so that I can finish the job I started. Humans can no longer live like lemmings. They need a leader, and if I can find the Apostles again and harbor their power, I can show the humans this. I can finish combining Earth and Heaven together. I can create the new ending to the Apocalypse!"

The look on his face indicated that he was perfectly sincere, and I couldn't believe that I had heard such words come from his mouth. I thought that he had finished with that.

"You're going after the Apostles again?" I asked in a voice that was barely above a whisper. "Why? You have your power, you have your life back..."

"It's not about that, Remington," Aion answered as his eyes locked with mine. "It's about showing God that he is no longer the one that people need to worship. We need to tell these people that their God is an omnipotent jackass that doesn't give a damn about what they think. You know the stories: you were there for half of them! You know that all He has ever cared about is Himself and how many people he can get to pay their silly little tithes and bow before Him. If we can get the Apostles then we can get these people off of their knees!"

"'We'," I said softly. "You said 'we'."

The devil walked towards me and nodded. "If you're by my side, Remington, nothing can stop us. You can find the Apostles, and I can use my influence to set everything in motion. We can change history if you're willing to work with me."

I shook my head and stupidly backed myself into the wall. "It's going to be 1929 all over again."

The next thing I knew Aion had pressed me against the wall: his face mere inches from mine.

"It's not going to be 1929 all over again. If you're with me, then we'll be able to control the affects much better. You'll be the face of reason. I'll be the voice. We can do this, Remington. All I need from you is your cooperation and your ability to seek out those touched by God. Think about it! People will love us for helping them to…see the light so to speak. We'll be saving these people from themselves!"

"But that's exactly what you promised the last time. I seem to recall that not turning out so well for you."

"That's because Chrono and Rosette didn't see things my way. If they had though…well, things would be so different from how they are today. The War would have never happened, I wouldn't have had to make a contract to return, and you wouldn't have had to live like a dog out on the streets. Together we can _do_ this," he said before he did something that completely surprised me: he kissed me.

I didn't react to it. I was too stunned to do so. He pulled away after a moment, but my eyes were locked open.

"Just think about it, Ewan. Think about the change we can bring to this damned world."

He left, and I quickly returned to my room. Just like that first night where I made my decision to stay, now I had to figure out if I had truly changed enough to even consider helping Aion with his obsessive desire to free mankind from what he saw as a cage of religion.

I thought about the angel and demon sculpture that so fascinated me. Would I be one of the angels and fight against the demons like God ordained, or would I join the ranks of the demons and struggle for my freedom and the freedom of my brethren?

"Do I think like Milton's Satan or Jesus at the Temptation? Do I even have a choice?"

I'm not certain that I really ever had an option: not from the moment I decided to stay, to my current conflict. After all, my mind was made up within the hour, and as I went to bed, I knew what my path would be in the morning.

* * *

The quote in this chapter is from _Paradise Lost. _It will probably be the last one you see for a while, and I'll switch over to Biblical ones.

The next chapter will end this part of the story. I should be able to get it up fairly quickly, but judging by how quickly I got this one up, it might take longer than I expect it to.

Also, since school is more or less finished for me, I am willing to start betaing things (I'm currently doing work on one). While I will be gone part of the summer, I will be home for the most part.


	7. End Part One: Tempted

Well, I'm rather surprised at myself for getting this chapter out as quickly as I did. I already had most of it written, so that helped quite a bit, but other than adding more detail to it, not much changed as I was editing.

Quick note because I didn't mention it last chapter, and I kinda wanted to: the Ferrari Aion was driving was a very limited edition. Only 349 were made from 1995 to 1997.

I'd like to thank OtherCat1 and squishy the jellyfish for reviewing.

Disclaimer: Chrono Crusade is owned by Daisuke Moriyama.

* * *

Chapter 7

When I came downstairs the next day, I had packed my meager possessions the pouch Gabriel had given me

When I came downstairs the next day, I had packed my meager possessions the pouch Gabriel had given me. There was no denying that I had made up my mind, but Aion still had to ask.

"What does this mean for our relationship, Remington?" he said it in such a mocking manner that I knew he was just teasing me. He wanted to hear me say that I was done with him so that he could find something to use against me at a later time.

"I'm not going to help you, Aion. I'm going to leave here today, and I'm going to regain the strength that I've lost. I swear to you, if I ever see you again after this moment, I will not hesitate to kill you. I'm not going to hunt you down though. I respect you enough for that. However, if I find that you've captured an Apostle, then I shall make it my sworn duty to track you down and kill you like the demon you are," I told him coolly.

The devil smirked and lowered his head. "I accept your terms, Remington. In fact, I'll have Gabriel and Ambrogino take you wherever you want to go. As a last token of good will so to speak."

"Thank you." It was the last thing that I said to him before I left the mansion and got into the car that Ambrogino pulled up.

"Do you know where the Magdalene Order is stationed in Florence?" I asked the quiet driver.

"Yes, but why do you want to go there? It's not exactly a short trip." he said, sounding worried. He might not have talked much, but it seemed that he did at least care about the people whom he chauffeured around. It warmed my heart a little.

"Sometimes in order to get back on your feet, you have to start back at the beginning. The Magdalene Order is my beginning," was my reply.

Gabriel frowned but he didn't say anything. In fact, he didn't say anything at all as we took the long drive through rural areas and small towns to a large monastery situated in a secluded area on the outskirts of the ancient city. It wasn't like him at all, but I can only assume that he was trying to work out why I was leaving. As far as he knew there had been no fighting between the Sinner and myself. I wasn't about to tell him the real reason for my departure, and somehow I doubted that Aion would either.

"I'll see you around, Remington?" the young man finally asked as I got out of the car and shuffled my satchel around. He wasn't smiling though, and he looked too much like a broken Joshua at that moment. His blue eyes were down cast, and he was frowning. It was the exact look the youngest Christopher had worn whenever he had remembered something from the past.

Something he didn't _want_ to remember.

"If fate is willing, Gabriel, then yes," I answered before I walked to the gates and hit the call button.

Gabriel and Ambrogino left by the time someone finally answered me.

"How can I help you, sir?" The voice was pleasant, but there was a clip to it that made me think that the man may have had a military background.

"I need to talk with the member in charge of this branch."

"May I ask why, sir?"

"Tell the head of this branch that Ewan Remington is here. I should be in the system."

"…Wait just a moment, sir."

Out on the grounds I could see young nuns and ministers training. It made me remember the days when Rosette and Chrono would run around practicing, going about some chore, or trying to do some damage control with Sister Kate. As I watched, a young girl in the pink cloths of an apprentice came running out onto the lawn, only to trip and fall onto the ground.

Just like Azmaria, I thought with a small smile before I heard a creaking noise.

The gates slowly opened and two armed ministers stepped forward.

"This way, Mr. Remington. Minister Borgia will see you."

As we walked across the pathways, the nuns and ministers stopped to look at us. Obviously it wasn't every day that a visitor came. I'd assume it was even less common for said visitor to have an armed escort. I could tell that they were whispering, but from where I was I had no idea what they were saying. Did they know who I was? Did they think that they knew who—or what—I was?

They led me into a large brick building, and after ascending several flights of stairs, we stopped before a large set of rather imposing doors. The man on my left knocked twice before a curt, "Enter" was heard. He opened the doors, and there before us was as an old man sitting at a large, metal desk. The man reminded me too much of a judge about to preside over a court case, and I shivered slightly. Over all, the layout wasn't much different from what Sister Kate's had been, but the feel was all wrong. Sister Kate's room had always been warm and inviting. This place…it just wasn't. I didn't like it one bit.

"You're Ewan Remington, formerly of the New York branch?" Minister Borgia asked in a wheezy voice.

"I am."

The old man sighed. "I would like to talk to Mr. Remington alone for a moment. Please wait outside."

The two ministers both bowed and left the room. Their absence made the already barren place even more forsaken—if that were at all possible.

"What are you doing here, Remington? Word has it that you fell out of favor with God and quit the Order. Of course, that was what? Almost seventy years ago?"

"That's correct, though I think it would be better to say that He and I just aren't speaking to each other, or that I turned my back on Him. I'm almost certain that He would take me back if I ever had the desire to ask for His forgiveness.

"As for what I'm doing here, well, if you're willing, I would like to return to the Order and go back to the New York Branch to train. I've found a purpose again, but I need to be away from Europe in order to rise to my full potential."

"Why do you need the Order's help to do that? Certainly you could figure out something on your own," the minister growled as he shuffled some papers around. He wanted me gone, but wasn't rude enough to say it outright.

"I swore to kill the last remaining Sinner. The problem is… I don't trust myself to not go after him before I'm ready. I know that I'll do that if I stay on the same continent as him."

Minister Borgia looked at me and shook his head.

"Then ask God to help you. The Order will have nothing to do with a man that helped a filthy demon and a tainted nun."

"In case you've forgotten, minister, that demon kept this world from going into utter chaos by stopping his former comrade from creating a new ending to the Apocalypse. Rosette risked everything to save her brother and this world, and it ultimately cost her her life. If you ever make such comments about them again, I might just be tempted to join Aion in his hunt for the Apostles."

At that, the old man paled considerably. "He's going after the Apostles again?"

I nodded. "Will you help me now, or do I have to go and take him up on his offer? He said a lot of things that make sense. I might be tempted to believe that this makes sense too."

He frowned deeply before picking up his phone and dialing a few numbers. He never indicated for me to sit down, so I stood quietly before the metal desk. He talked quickly, but it seemed that he had to call every single council member in the Order before he finally turned his eyes back to me.

"The New York branch will take you back. They're going to send you a passport, but until it gets here, they asked that you stay here and train with our members. Is that acceptable, Minister Remington?" the old man asked.

"Perfectly. Thank you Minister Borgia."

He made a sound of contempt, and waved me away. "The two ministers outside will take you to get a uniform fitted and will help find you a bunk. Expect the passport to arrive within the next month or so. Dismissed."

I bowed, and left through the double doors. The two men seemed a little bit surprised when Minister Borgia told them to get me clothes and a bed, but they did as they were told. They brought me to a warehouse, sized me up, and handed me a uniform. As I turned it over in my hands, I realized that it hadn't really changed that much in the past 70 years. It was still the same dark blue, and the golden cross still commanded attention on the front chest.

No regrets, I said to myself as I continued to follow my two escorts. No regrets about rejoining the Order, and no regrets about leaving Aion and Gabriel alone. Rosette would say that this is the right thing to do.

Still, it felt like I was taking a step backwards. The feeling didn't last too long, but it almost made me throw the uniform to the ground and take off running. The logical part of my brain insisted that I was doing the right thing though, and the Order was the only organization that had the resources I needed to put an end to this tragic story I had been a part of for so long.

While the housing buildings looked new and modern, the actual sleeping quarters looked more like barracks than I expected. It wasn't like I was going to be staying that long with them. It was only until my passport came in, but the place reminded me of one of the safe houses I had helped secure in World War Two. Those had been dark, the beds had seen much better days, and any sleep we got was between shooting off rounds at the enemy. This place was no better. Nevertheless, I found an empty bunk, set my pouch on it, and looked around at my new roommates. There were a few men sitting around, all staring at me, but no one said anything. Maybe this was a normal occurrence for them to ogle new recruits, but it certainly felt awkward to me.

"Do you mind if I change?" I asked, and they did look a little surprised over the fact that I could speak perfect Italian. They must have assumed that I was a foreigner and knew nothing about the language.

"Go ahead. Don't mind us, Minister…?" one of the men said.

"Remington. Ewan Remington. I won't be bothering you too long before I'm transferred over to the New York branch, so I'll try to stay out of the way."

"New York branch, eh? Our branch is just as good as the American ones," the same man muttered.

"It's a personal reason that I need to go there. It has nothing to do with anyone here," I replied as I took off my shirt and pants.

"What kind of suit was that? Looked nice," one of the others piped up, and I tossed the clothes over to him.

"Gucci? Why the hell are you trading designer clothes for the Cloth?" he asked, apparently stunned.

"A devil made me do it."

"That's the stupidest excuse I've ever heard. You had to have lost a bet or something. Or you might have sold your soul to a devil. Yeah, that makes more sense," the first man said with a small, patronizing grin.

I just shrugged and pulled on the cotton uniform. It wasn't nearly as comfortable as the fitted suit had been, but I felt different as I wore it. Almost as though I wasn't wearing an obligation that I would eventually have to repay.

"Believe what you'd like. I'm just saying that a devil made me return to the Order and give up the life he gave me," I replied.

"What do you mean, 'the life he gave me'? Were you living with a demon?" the first man asked.

"Yes, I was living with a demon. I…I was keeping an eye on him," I said, trying to convince myself that that was the reason that I had stayed with Aion so long. That had been the reason in the beginning, but as time had gone on, I had lingered because I wanted to, not because I _needed_ to.

"Then why the hell did you leave if you were keeping an eye on him?"

I sighed and looked up at the dreary ceiling, as if it held the answers that I was so desperately searching for.

"Because I was seriously beginning to question my definition of morality the longer I stayed with him. Believe me, I'm still watching him…it's just better for everyone if I do it on another continent."

They all shook their heads and returned to their own conversations. They must have assumed that I was a lost cause.

I was though, now that I think about it. I was a lost cause the moment I decided to stay with Aion instead of going back to the familiar streets of Rome. In my own way, I _had_ sold my soul to the devil, and the only way I was getting it back was by killing the one that I had traded it to for fine clothes and expensive food.

"Hey."

I snapped out of my musings to look at the ministers again. The man that had asked about my suit was speaking to me.

"You should probably go to the church and either pray to God to forgive you or confess to someone. It will help to clear your soul."

"I don't speak with God anymore, and I sure as Hell don't require His forgiveness," I snapped before I left the barracks. I could hear the men talking about me as I walked out, but paid it little heed. I knew my reasons for being at this particular branch, and it certainly didn't involve talking with God or confessing my sins to one of the other ministers.

I came there to train and to start over again. Not to ask for forgiveness over regrets that I no longer truly harbored.

Thus began my long month stay at the Florence Branch of the Magdalene Order. I made few friends while I was there; perhaps in some grim determination that I would be able to train and teach myself everything I needed to know in order to defeat the last Sinner.

I did learn a few useful things. Like the Order had decided that rapid fire was more important than making certain that the gun didn't jam, so all members were required to carry a 1911 pistol on their person. While the guns were better than they had been back in the 1920's, I missed knowing that the cartridge wasn't going to jam after I shot it. Also, the branch still seemed to think that contact with the outside world was a must, and they did receive newspapers even if they refused to have televisions to watch.

With this little window to the outside, I found out that Aion was doing gratuitous amounts of charity work involving orphaned or disadvantaged children. I think that he was just trying to spite me and get me out to come out of my forced seclusion.

Or he was looking for the Apostles in the most obvious matter ever. It was probably both.

The day did not come fast enough for my passport to arrive. I was sick of Europe with its gaudy buildings and too old style of thinking. They all reminded me too much of the man that I was trying to escape from.

I needed to be back in the New World. Where nuns fell in love with Ignoble Ones, boys sold themselves to devil in order to understand their power, and girls learned to grow up too fast.

End Part One: Tempted

* * *

Here ends Part One: Tempted.

This is not the end of the story, so please don't think that I'd end this on such a bad note. Next up will be Part Two: Redemption.

In happier news: today was my last day of high school. So, any editing I have should be done in the next two or three days.


	8. Begin Part Two: Redemption

First of all, I want to apologize for the long delay in getting this chapter out. Graduation, family, and getting ready for a trip have been major delays, and just having a hard time starting this chapter slowed things down a bit.

Next: Thank you to Squishy the Jellyfish for reviewing. I hope that this chapter doesn't disappoint.

Another thing that I wanted to mention: My sister brought it to my attention while editing this that she didn't know what a 1911 was right off the bat. If she didn't know, than there's a good chance other people wouldn't. A 1911 is a type of .45 caliber handgun. It's a style that has been around since the late 1890's, and was standard issue for the US military from 1911 through 1985. Several companies manufacture them, and it's my best guess that it's the same type of gun that Rosette uses in the manga/anime (if memory serves me right, the extras say that she uses a Government Colt .45. Since the government was using this style of gun and how the gun looks this was probably the one she was using). So, Remington would be very familiar with them.

That said, I didn't really check to see if they would even allow this type of gun in Europe during the late '90's. While I really have tried to do my research for this story, I did get a bit lax in this area.

* * *

Chapter 8

As I tried to hail a cab from the confusion of the airport, I realized just how out of place I was. The airport was new, and even though I knew construction had begun just before I left for North Africa, the area had changed completely… the skyline had been altered so much that I wasn't entirely certain that I was even in the same city as before. Sure, there were a few skyscrapers that I remembered, but most of them hadn't been built until after I was drafted, and everything felt very, very alien to me. At least with Europe you could expect things to retain some of their sameness. I had actually forgotten how much Americans like change in the fifty plus years I had been gone.

When I finally was able to get a taxi to pay attention to me, I gave the directions to the Order and relaxed. Relaxing was a luxury that I hadn't allowed myself much of over the past two days mostly due to eagerness to be gone from Europe.

I thought about the events that led up to my leaving Italy, and I soon found myself drifting off to the memories of my last days at the Florence branch.

X X X

I had been taking a nap on my bunk when I was disturbed by the _thunk _of something hitting the foot of my bed.

"Yes?" I asked coolly as I lifted my head up to see what was happening.

"Your passport finally came. Minister Borgia is in the process of getting you a one way ticket back to America," the minister that had placed the papers there said as he went to leave.

"Thank you," I called to his back as I fully sat up and grabbed the item. Sure enough, there was my picture and the other information needed to allow me back into America.

Perfect.

Grabbing my leather pouch and the 1911 they were letting me borrow, I left the barracks and made my way towards Minister Borgia's office. The day had been rather boring before, but it was starting to look up. It wasn't every day that you got a passport to return "home".

The guards were standing guard outside the large doors, but they allowed me in after I handed them my gun and pouch.

The old man was sitting at his desk (I had never seen him anywhere else, and I almost felt sorry for him) but he indicated that I didn't have to stand at attention as he finished his phone call.

"I take it that you've already heard about me securing you a ticket?"

"I heard that you were in the process of getting me one, and I came to see what I could do to help."

The minister looked up from his paper work and regarded me carefully.

"You want to help?" he asked, sounding rather incredulous.

"It's the least I can do. After all, you have done much more for me than I have for your branch."

Borgia shook his head and returned to his papers.

"Your ticket should be here tomorrow, and you'll leave Italy from the Milan airport in two days. There is nothing you need to do to help. Dismissed."

I left at the curt command and retrieved my gun and bag from the guards outside. Two days? I could live with that. While I wasn't exactly certain why Borgia was having me leave from the Milan airport, I didn't dwell on it too much. I figured it either had to do with price, or the Order didn't want me to accidentally run into Aion. I assume that the reason had more to do with the latter than the former.

However, as much as I thought that I could bear two days of bordem, I realized that I had a very hard time doing so.

Time seemed to move at a snail's pace, and there really wasn't anything that I hadn't done at least twice by the time they handed me my ticket. I spent hours at the shooting range, another large amount of time training with a dummy, and still more time cleaning up the area around my bunk.

I purposely tried to keep my mind occupied, but other than wait, there wasn't much else to do. Sleeping wasn't much of an option as I kept tossing and turning on the bunk, and the grass outside wasn't much better. It was too hard, and the air was on the chilly side. I didn't really feel the chill, but I knew that it would look awkward to the others if I did manage to fall sleep in fifty degree weather without a blanket of any sort.

The next day was much of the same: shoot, train, clean one last time, and try and get some sleep that would never come. I didn't even try to sleep outside this time since it had decided to snow. That would have looked more awkward than just sleeping out in the cold.

The only changes to my schedule otherwise came in the form of returning my gun. I was told that I would get another one in America—one that I would like better—and that was that. While I was glad to hear that I would be getting a new gun, I hated losing the weight on my hip. The gun had become something of a security blanket, and it felt strange to no longer have it.

When the day came to finally leave, no one said good-bye to me, and no one saw me off. I didn't exactly expect anyone to, but the thought would have been appreciated. I did find Minister Borgia waiting for me outside of the gates to give me my ticket and a piece of paper with the name of the current head of the New York Branch. After he gave me these items, he went back to his office, leaving me alone with the driver assigned to take me to the Milan airport.

The driver and I didn't say anything to each other as he drove down the winding roads to the northern city. In fact, the whole drive was silent until I was getting out of the car and getting ready to go inside.

"Hey, good luck out there," the driver said quickly before I closed the door.

I gave him a smile. "Thanks. Take care of yourself too," I told him.

That was it. I shut the door, he drove off, and I went inside to check in and maybe get some breakfast.

X X X

"Hey…Hey!"

My eyes shot open and I looked at the driver of the taxi I was in.

"We're here."

"Thanks," I muttered as I handed him his fare. He unlocked the door, and I climbed out of the car. I was still tired, but the drive had allowed me to catch a little rest, and I was grateful for that.

As the taxi pulled away I stared at the large gate that impeded my progress into the New York Branch. As far as I could tell the layout hadn't changed much since I had last seen it in 1942, but there was a sense of newness to the buildings and landscape that indicated that I had missed quite a bit.

Straightening my back, I walked to the gate and hit the call button. I was greeted much faster than I had been two months prior at the Italian Branch, which put me at ease. Either here they were more acquainted with visitors, or they had been expecting me.

"Hello?"

"Minister Remington, reporting for duty," I said, and the heavy door began to open, pushing the snow aside as it did.

I had barely stepped inside the brick walls before three nuns came over to me with large smiles and eager expressions. That more or less answered my question as to whether or not they had been expecting me.

"Is it true? Are you really Minister Remington?" one of the nuns, a brunette with dark eyes, asked.

"Yeah, are you? 'Cause if you are, I didn't expect you to be so cute!" one of the others, this time with green eyes and a scarf around her neck, exclaimed.

All I could do was stare in shock at the girls. Yup, I definitely had missed a lot in the fifty years since I had last been to the order. Mary, Anna, and Claire never would have had the audacity to say that to _any_ of the ministers. It just wasn't done in the '20s.

"Um…yeah, I am Minister Remington," I replied after a moment.

"We have to get you a room then!" the third one grinned.

"Is Minister Grishdun still looking for a roommate? Maybe he'll let you stay with him!" the first one said, turning to her comrades.

"He's really nice. Probably the nicest minister here," the second said, though it didn't seem like the comment was directed towards me.

I watched as the nuns continued their chatter back and forth, completely ignoring me. This didn't surprise me as much as the cute comment had, and I admit that I smiled a little as they tried to figure out who would make an ideal roommate for me. However, I needed to get going. Shaking my head as I continued to smile, I shuffled my bag around and started to walk towards the old administration building when I was stopped by the trio again.

"That isn't the way to the dorms!" the girls yelled in unison.

"I need to go talk to Sister…," I glanced down at the paper Minister Borgia had given me before I continued, "Florence before I can get a room. I assume that her office is in that building, right?"

They all looked at each other before finally answering my question. "Yes." Their response lacked any of the vigor they had had when discussing roommates. Their faces had also gone rather pale at the mention of her name.

I gave them all a smile and a "thank you" and headed off in the direction I had been going. I had no idea what Sister Florence looked like, but judging by how the girls acted; the nun had obviously put the fear of God (or at least her) in them. It wasn't a bad thing, but I was quickly reminded of Kate's relationship with Rosette.

As I walked down the well worn pathways, I looked at others across the way. They were the same ones that the original trio had walked down. I could almost remember some of the conversations I had heard them having, and I smiled at the memory.

_They're probably all gone now_, I thought as I returned my gaze onto the administration building. _Or if any of them are still alive, they certainly wouldn't look the same_.

Time tended to do that to most people.

As I entered the building I found myself wandering down familiar corridors to Sister Kate's old room. I didn't even realize what I had done until I had reached the door and knocked on it. The woman that opened the door wasn't Sister Kate though, and I quickly began to apologize.

"Oh, forgive me; I thought that this was Sister…"

"You must be Minister Remington. I've been waiting for you. I'm Sister Florence, the current head of this branch. I see that you still know your way around the building."

She let me inside the room and I walked towards the desk. The layout of the room hadn't been significantly altered, but the room itself had been renovated numerous times over the decades. It had lost the warm feel that I had once loved. Then again, that may have just had to do with the fact that the woman that I had known wasn't the one talking to me.

"So, you know what I am?"

The middle aged woman looked at me as she went behind her desk and smiled. "How could I not know, minister? I think that every single head of this branch made plans for when you would come back. Back in '81 the Council was certain that you would return."

"Because of what happened to the pope?"

"Yes."

"That's one of the reasons why I convinced myself that I couldn't return to the Order. I had to watch out for him."

"Just one, minister?" she asked.

"Don't inquire about the others. I'm not ready to confess everything yet," I replied as I leaned against one of the walls.

"I don't expect you to tell me, but maybe you'd be willing to talk to Anna about your time in Europe. I doubt that she'd judge you. She still seems to harbor some particular sentiments about the incident with Sister Rosette and the Sinner."

I jerked my head up and stared at Florence.

"Anna is still alive? Is anyone else?"

The sister shook her head. "Just her. I'm certain that she'll tell you everything if you just ask. Now, here is your room key and your room number. I'll debrief you tomorrow about what your duties will be, but for right now, I want you to relax and reorient yourself with the branch. You've been gone for a long time."

"Is Anna expecting to see me today?"

"She doesn't know that you've returned. Only a handful of individuals knew that you came back to the Order, and an even smaller number knew that you were being transferred here."

"How did those three girls find out?"

The sister gave me a look that suggested she didn't know who I was talking about. So, I indicated my head toward the window. "The trio of girls that caught me as I was entering."

"Those three? They were eavesdropping. We just asked that they not spread the word about our new transfer. It seems that they didn't, but they still wanted to be the first to greet you. Anything else, Minister Remington?"

I shook my head.

"Then you're dismissed," Sister Florence said with a kind smile.

I bowed and left, feeling a bit better about my decision to return to New York. Sure, things were different, but I could manage that. The people here still seemed nice and open, and it appeared as though it would be easy to start over again. I even had a small grin on my face as I exited the building and headed to the dorms.

The smile left as I passed the church. I felt my body slow and stop as I looked at the ancient building, and I could feel something pulling me there.

I didn't really want cross the threshold and it took all my will to get my feet moving again.

_I'll go in…but not right now. Not right now._

I quickly finished the walk towards the dormitory and made my way inside. I couldn't bring myself to really take in my surroundings for fear of complete culture shock, and for the fact that I just wanted to get in and go back to the church. I didn't even realize what room they had put me in until the next day. I just found where I was staying, put my bag down and left again.

As I went back outside, I noticed that clouds had started to gather overhead. It was December, and not every place could be as temperate as Italy in the middle of winter. It's kind of funny, but other than the fact that it was very likely going to snow soon, this day felt exactly like the day I had given my last sermon.

It had been a week after Rosette and Chrono had gone missing, and I had been requested to talk about them for the week's homily. I spent two days writing and rewriting what I was going to say until finally I had something that I at least didn't hate. Still, that Sunday as I got up to the pulpit and readied myself, all I wanted to do was jump down and tear it apart.

I opened the Bible on the pulpit, and looked out over the crowd; Sister Kate had her eyes fixed firmly to the floor, Azmaria looked as though she had been crying for hours on end, Anna, Claire, and Mary all appeared exhausted, but it was Joshua that got to me the most. He sat next to Azmaria; completely oblivious as to why everyone was so sad. He kept trying to get Az to tell him why everyone was so melancholy, but all she would do was shake her head.

It broke my heart, and I found that the only thing that I could say was, "God betrayed them."

I walked out of the church, and the next day, I told Kate that I was leaving. All she did was hold up the papers that I had left behind.

"Why the chapter about Human Disobedience, Remington? Why that one?"

"Because Rosette always was defiant and disobedient, wasn't she? She would have appreciated the irony," I said, my voice showing the signs of my weariness. "I thought that the snake's challenge to Eve made sense to quote. 'The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die. God said that because he knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad."'"

Kate sighed and looked away. Three days later, Joshua and I had moved into a house in the city. He never did ask why everyone had been so sad that day, but soon after that he began to write his stories and draw his pictures. I wonder if ghosts of the past were playing with his mind during those times.

Now as I stood outside the church, I knew that I was going to have to get over my fear of what lay inside. I figured that I wasn't going to be struck down by Him for going inside the hallowed sanctuary, and I was well aware of the fact that I didn't have to confess anything, but I still didn't want to go in.

_Now or never_, I thought, and putting one foot in front of the other, I walked inside.

X X X

The church hadn't changed at all.

The statue of Mary was still there—forever locked in her sorrowful looking pose—the benches were still old and worn, and the pulpit was still as shabby looking as before…Yes, at least the church hadn't changed even if everything else had.

I found a spot situated in the shadows and I made my way over to it. Now that I was actually inside, I found that I _wanted_ to get a few things off my chest. No one was watching me, and I knew that I wasn't going to be judged, so I began to speak.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Rosette?" I asked the silence once I sat down. "I'm sorry that I haven't always been the best at talking to you, but, I think that you know the reason for that better than anyone else. I've been away for so long, and it's taken me some time to get my center back."

I sighed and leaned forward to rest my arms on my thighs. "I almost let myself fall under Aion's spell. He's good. He makes you feel like you're the only one that can make a difference…even if he's being a patronizing bastard in the process. I can see why you were caught up by him. I know that you didn't want to be, and you don't have to blame yourself…if you do."

"She sold her soul to a devil. Why do you care if she blames herself or not?"

I didn't move from my spot. The voice alone told me who it was.

"Uriel, of all the angels I expected to come and talk with me, you were the last one on the list. Guarding the sun too boring of a job now, or did one too many demons get passed you to come to Earth?"

The archangel walked to where I was and sat down at the opposite end of the pew. I didn't look at him, nor did he look at me.

"God asked me to find you and to tell you that you are forgiven. If you want to return to Heaven you can."

"He says that I'm forgiven? Huh, and here I thought that it was He that needed to be pardoned for his actions towards the Christopher family. I mean, he did fuck around with them enough."

"He doesn't need to be forgiven for anything, and you know that."

"Then explain to me why He let Rosette and Chrono die such tragic deaths?"

Uriel snorted. "Let's see: One was a devil and the other sold her soul to said devil."

"Chrono killed his own kind and hated himself for taking her soul. You couldn't say the same thing about certain humans, could you?" I asked. The archangel knew that I was right, but he brushed aside my comment like it was nothing.

"That doesn't change the fact that he took Mary Magdalene and helped Aion in destroying Pandemonium."

"He tried to stop Aion, and it ultimately cost both him and Rosette their lives. Damn it, am I the only one not blind to the fact that he spent the rest of his life trying to redeem himself and fight the wrongs that he felt he committed?" I snapped.

"I'm not blind to that fact, Ewan. I just see that he was a tainted devil who cursed the holy woman twice over."

"Just because Rosette fell in love with a demon doesn't mean that she was tainted. As for Mary, she knew what was going to happen. She just wanted to meet him before she died," I tried explaining, though I knew it would be futile.

"If you had allowed Mary the freedom to move around she wouldn't have left with the Ignoble One. She would have been perfectly content to stay at the Order, writing down her prophecies of the future," The archangel growled.

"I was told to keep Mary under lock and key by Him. Besides, He had to have given her those visions in the first place. After all, He is supposed to be omnipotent, right? He should have known that Chrono didn't want to kill her, and yet, she asked him to take her life in order to survive to meet Rosette. Chrono never wanted to hurt either of those women. He loved them both," I said, trying to keep my voice level.

"You've been completely brainwashed haven't you, Ewan? You honestly believe that there are some good demons out there? Well, I suppose brainwashing would explain why you stayed with the Sinner for three months before finally leaving."

"I just know that Chrono wasn't a horrible demon, and he certain didn't curse Rosette or Mary. All he ever did was help them and love them until they were taken from him," I replied, ignoring his comment about Aion.

I heard him mutter something, and I finally chanced a quick glance. He looked annoyed, and I don't entirely blame him.

"This is the only chance you'll have, Ewan. He won't give you another one."

"Somehow I think that I'll be fine with that. I don't need Him to tell me I'm forgiven. I'm perfectly capable of figuring that out for myself. Now, if He wants to apologize, I might listen. Until then," I shrugged before continuing, "why listen to someone that refuses to see things from another point of view?"

Uriel stood up and shot me a look. "You won't be welcome back, Ewan. It's a pity really. You had so much potential. You would have become someone important."

I returned my gaze to the statue of Mary and allowed myself a small, sad smile. "You know what? I'm glad that I don't have to deal with all of that. I'm doing what I need to do, and if I'm never recognized for that, great: I'll know that I did the right thing."

The archangel walked down the aisle, and that was the last time I saw him. It was the last time I saw anyone from Heaven.

"See, Rosette? We're both damned now. I hope that Chrono's with you at least. When I go, there probably won't be anyone waiting for me. It's alright though. I think that the silence will be just perfect for me. I mean, I've wanted to take a nice nap for a long time now."

I stood up and left the church, but I as I did, I thought that I saw a ghost linger before the doors. I can only assume that it was a trick of the light…but I swear that I saw Rosette's face in the glow.

It was snowing as I stepped out of the church. Well, the clouds had been forming earlier, so it wasn't as though I hadn't been expecting it, but it didn't exactly make me feel any better.

What I hadn't been expecting was the young man standing twenty feet in front of me. I didn't think anything of it at first; I figured that he was just on his way to the church and had decided to stand out in the snow for a little while.

However, as I tried to walk around him, he blocked my path. A little smirk played on his face: like he was a hunter and I was the prey.

"I'm not in the mood," I told him as I tried to get by him again, only to have him shove me back.

With the distance between us, he dropped down into a low squat, and brought one hand up by his face and kept the other by his front leg. It was a fighting stance—that was clear as day—but why he wanted to fight me was another matter.

"Look, I'm not in the…," I said again before he threw a punch at my face. I barely had time to step away from the attack before the stranger aimed a kick at my side.

I blocked it with my forearms, but it still felt like I was getting hit with a ton of bricks. Never before had I seen a human move so quickly or hit so hard. I was barely managing to evade his attacks, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to block them for much longer before he finally got in a decent hit. I expected this from a demon. Not from a _human_.

"Come on! At least try and get me!" the man yelled as he attempted to plant another kick in my stomach. So, I did as he requested: I threw a punch at his head.

It was the last thing that I did that night that didn't hurt.

He ducked under my attack, and with a smirk that is forever ingrained into my mind, he kicked my head before I even had time to register that my pathetic attempt at a punch had completely missed. The assault completely stunned me, but he didn't stop. Stopping, I think, would have been too easy for him. Instead, he hit my stomach with a vicious right hook before he used my doubled over position to deliver a jaw rattling upper cut to my chin. The smirk never left his face.

I fell to the ground; winded and disoriented beyond imagine. I fought to keep air in my lungs, and that took all of my concentration. Never mind dodging the stomps the stranger was now aiming for my legs and back.

"Get back up! He's not going to stop once you two get into a fight! He's going to hit a lot harder than this too!" he yelled as he caught my stomach with his foot and sent me curling into the fetal position, gasping for air and vomiting God knows what out onto the grass.

"Minister Jonathon, you can stop now."

That voice…that was a voice that I knew. Funny though, I couldn't be bothered to remember who it belonged to as I spat out blood and bile.

"He's going to need a lot of work," the stranger, Minister Jonathon, muttered.

"That's what you're here for. To train Minister Remington in the art of hand to hand combat. While I appreciate the quick and hard lesson, did you truly need to continue to beat him while he was down?" the woman, Sister Florence, asked curtly.

"I already told him that he wouldn't stop. Why should I? I was just giving him a taste of what he can expect from an enraged devil of the Sinner's caliber."

"You're…you're human though," I wheezed as I slowly lifted my head.

Jonathon just stared at me before shaking his head in disgust. "Yeah, and you're supposed to be a divine being. If I can beat you, than the Sinner sure as hell can. Right now, you don't stand a chance against him. So, get up and get some rest. I want to see you down on the grass at five."

He ran a gloved hand over his closely cropped hair and walked away; leaving me to try and get up on my own.

Or so I thought.

I felt a large hand grab my arm and carefully lift me up. It certainly wasn't Florence that was aiding me. Instead, it was another minister.

"Minister Remington, meet Minister Grishdun. He'll be looking after you this evening," the head sister said as the man slung my arm around his shoulders and helped me stand on my own two feet.

"This the usual welcome?" I asked as the three of us walked down the wet pathways towards the dormitories.

Grishdun laughed and shook his head. "No. We only get Jon over here for the ones that have vendettas. You can call yourself lucky in that regard, because Jon only works with the best."

_Lucky_, I thought, _well_ _if you can call it that. I sure as hell don't feel lucky right now_.

Grishdun helped me back to the dormitories and then up to my room. I was still struggling to breathe properly, and other than to tell him which room was mine, I didn't say anything to him. It hurt too much.

"You know," he said as I opened the door to my abode and practically collapsed onto the bed, "you'll probably be more comfortable if you change out of those clothes and wash up a little bit. Just a suggestion."

I nodded and watched him leave before sitting up and going over the day's events. Well, I would have done that if I had been able to concentrate on my thoughts. The pain from my beating however tormented not only my body, but also my mind. The Order had once considered me one of their best fighters and now?...Now I was just an ignorant rookie that needed to be trained from the ground up.

That stung more than any of the bruises.

* * *

Uriel is apparently a few things. I have him mentioned as watching the sun in crresponding to the role Milton gives him, but he is also the pervaer of Hell (at least according to Wiki).

Also, Anna will be showing up in the next chapter. She just didn't fit here.

The instance of Sister Florence and the city Florence was not intentional. I didn't even realize that I had done it until a large chunk of this chapter had been written. So, I'll try and distinguish betten the two if they are ever brought up in the same paragraph.

If you notice any glaring typos, please tell me. While my sister did look over this, she only managed to get through the first four pages. So, if in two weeks I have revamped this chapter, just know that I've had her finish looking at it and change some things.

Just know, that if I don't respond for a few weeks, I am gone and will not have access to a computer.

Anyway, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!


	9. Chapter 9

Well, sorry for the delay again. This chapter took longer to write than I expected, and I do apologize for that. I'm hoping I can get one or two more chapters up before I head out to college. After that, updates will likely be slower. The goal though, is to have this finished before Christmas. Because than the story will only be a year behind.

But anyway, thanks for the reviews, I always appreciate them.

I'd also like to thank my sister for helping me edit this. However, as I am want to do, I changed things and didn't have her look at them again. So if something really seems off, please tell me and I'll fix it.

One last thing before: There is one error in the last chapter that I don't think I'll change. I say that the statue in the church is one of Mary Magdalene. Did I ever get that wrong. Yes, it's Mary, but it's the _Virgin _Mary. Fair bit of difference there. The issue is, the statue is mentioned again in a later chapter, and I'm not certain how I can change the context of it to work with the Virgin Mary. So, this might be the one huge canon flaw I allow myself. (Silly me hasn't watched the anime in a few months. Imagine my surprise at hearing Anna go, "Not in front of the Virgin you pervert!")

* * *

Chapter 9

My alarm began to beep at 4:30, but I was up long before that. Nothing really hurt anymore; one of the few blessings of being an angel. We heal at a similar rate to demons, but with two notable exceptions: we don't need legion to regenerate, and we don't rely on the Astral Lines for our power. It does give angels a distinct advantage in combat as we can't lose our source of strength, but there's always the problem of getting demon blood mixed with open wounds on our bodies.

Demons may be the spawn of a fallen angel, but their blood was never intended to combine with an angel's.

Getting out of bed and putting on my boots, I began to get ready for the day. I had no idea what Jonathon had planned, but judging by the way he had treated me the day before, I knew that I could expect another harsh lesson.

Don't get me wrong; I appreciated that the Order had gone through the trouble of finding someone to teach me how to properly defend myself, but I was still a little sour of the fact that I had been treated like a know-nothing amateur by the other minister. Sure, I may have forgotten a lot while I was living on the streets, but I still had an _idea_ of proper hand to hand combat.

Grabbing a jacket and my uniform top, I left my room and started to walk towards the kitchen to get something to drink. Eating was out of the question until the training session was over, but I figured that water would be alright.

Once I had navigated the dark halls of the silent dormitory, I and started to rummage through cupboards to try and find a sports bottle when I heard Minister Grishdun's voice from behind me.

"I don't think that this is the grass." His voice wasn't reprimanding. Rather, he just sounded amused.

"I wanted to have my stomach feel a little bit full. Besides, he can't yell at me for having _water_ of all things."

"I thought that angels didn't need to eat?"

"We don't. That doesn't mean that we don't like to though. That also doesn't mean that we can't get sick if we over exert ourselves after a meal," I replied as I found what I was looking for.

"Minister Grishdun?" I asked as I turned to look at him at his table.

The large black man grunted in response as he took a sip of tea. "How many people know what I am?" I inquired.

"Most of the higher ups do, and I'm pretty certain that all of the council members are aware of your divine status. I know about it because I'm second-in-command of this branch. Jon knows because it was important for him to understand what he would be dealing with. Otherwise? Unless you tell someone what you are, you're just the new transfer. We figured that you would want your privacy."

"Thanks for telling me," I said as I filled up my bottle from the tap.

"Not a problem, Minister Remington. You have fun out there now. I'll be in my office doing paper work if you need to talk."

I left the other minister sitting at his table. I would find him at that same spot almost every morning for years to come: just sitting there drinking his tea.

X X X

I found Minister Jonathon sitting on a bench smoking a cigarette. For a man that seemed so proud of his body, this habit surprised me greatly, but I didn't say anything as I sat down next to him. He must have been feeling guilty about it, because he started speaking about his little quirk.

"I don't do this often. The girlfriend hates it, it's bad for the baby, and the Order tends to disapprove. I figured that one just before my first training session with an angel would be over looked," he said before he took a long drag.

"I wasn't all that worried about it. You're an adult and you're legally allowed to do what you want."

He laughed a little before taking one last drag on the cigarette. "Not going to ask about the girlfriend and the baby?"

"I could, but I figure that it's not my business to pry at this moment. I hate it when people try and get me to tell them what happened after the War," I replied before I took a sip of water; it was already starting to get cold in the early New York dawn.

Jon didn't say anything back. He just stood up, took off his top and walked onto the snow covered lawn.

"We've wasted enough time with chit-chat. Take off your jacket and top and show me what you remember. We'll work our way from there."

I did as he requested, and after about twenty minutes of throwing punches and kicking at imaginary targets, he stopped me.

"Damn. Well, I guess that this is what I should have expected given your performance last night. Didn't they teach you anything at the Florence Branch?"

I wiped the sweat from my brow and shook my head. "They brushed me up on my old skills, but that's about it. I admit; I was wondering why they didn't have a better martial arts program there myself."

"Okay, because you suck. You have a good grasp of the basics, but I can clearly see that you don't know that much about the newer styles. What'd they teach you back in the twenties? Boxing and karate for dummies?"

"Boxing and judo actually, but there aren't that many opportunities to use judo when you're broke and no one will come near you," I answered. _That, and it was a really bad idea to get that close to the enemy during the War unless you wanted to get bayoneted. _

"Judo huh?" the younger minister perked up at my mentioning that, and he began to rub his chin as if in thought. "I can work with judo. I still need to teach you a whole hell of a lot of other things, but I can work with judo.

"Alright, just follow my lead. I figure by the time I leave here next week, you'll have enough know how to successfully take on at least the level 2 Militia members."

"You're only staying until next week?"

He looked at me and snorted. "Christmas is only a few weeks away. The fact that I'm staying until the twentieth to help you train is huge. My baby girl is only two, and she just doesn't get why daddy has to go away for so long. I'll keep coming by, but I've got my own duties at the Chicago Branch and I've got a family to raise. Unless I get asked to transfer, you'll be seeing me once every three months."

"So I'll work with the Militia otherwise?"

"You'll have to ask Sister Florence or Minister Grishdun about that. I'm only concerned about you here and now. Come on, and we'll work on following my technique for a few hours. After that, maybe I'll let us have a sparring session."

"Will it be anything like last night?" I asked with a grin.

He just dropped into a fighting stance and began to bark out orders.

Four hours, ten new bruises, and several new aches and pains later, Jonathon finally told me that we were done for the day. Most of the time had been spent watching and imitating his movements and techniques, but the last half hour had been spent sparing and getting my ass kicked again. Granted, Jonathon hadn't gone as full out as the night before, but he still let me know just how much I needed to learn with a few well placed kicks and take downs.

We sat on the bench we had started out on, panting in the late morning sun. I was going over the lessons for the day and wondering when I would be able to massage one particular twitchy muscle, but Jon didn't seem to be bothered that much by our session. I admit that I envied him for that.

"Feel better?" he grinned as he took a long sip from his own water bottle.

"About what I'll be doing? Yes. I've got a question for you though."

"Fire away."

"How is it that you hit so damn hard? Today wasn't as bad, but still: you're just a human. I shouldn't feel like I'm getting hit by a semi truck," I said.

Jon lifted up his arms and showed me the gloves—no, glove isn't the best term for it, more like gauntlets—on them.

"These were given to me by my mentor and teacher, Sister Sylvia. They're a special amalgamation of demon horns, silver, and steel. She got them made by some devil blacksmith as a gift back in the seventies. Works on demons, angels, and anything else that might have more strength than a regular mortal," he grinned. "Being about as muscular as Bruce Lee doesn't hurt either. Now there was a guy that could hit like a car."

I didn't ask about Bruce Lee. I figured that I could find something about him from one of the other ministers or nuns.

The younger minister stood up and rubbed a hand over his hair.

"We'll meet out here tomorrow at the same time. You should probably go in and clean up though. I'm going to get some breakfast and then train with the militia. If you've got any more questions, don't be afraid to find me and ask. See ya around, Remington."

Jonathon went his way, and I returned back to the dorm to take a shower and eat something. After all, I wanted to look nice for my day with an old friend.

X X X

It had been fifty-five years since I had last seen Anna. About twenty thousand seventy five days. Four hundred eighty-one thousand and eight hundred hours. Two hundred eighty-nine million and eighty thousand minutes…but really, who was counting?

For all I knew, Anna's mind had faded away with her body. She was eighty-four years old after all.

_She probably won't recognize me at all, or if she does, she won't believe it_, I thought to myself as I stood outside a door I had been told belonged to her room.

Knocking softly, I heard a faint, "Come in," and I slowly opened the door.

"Next time you knock, do it with more authority. I won't be having people who can't give a proper knock come in to see me," the old woman sitting facing the rather large windows said with a soft laugh in her voice.

"I'll remember that next time I come to visit you, Sister Anna," I replied, not moving too far away from my spot by the doorway.

Anna slowly placed the book she had been reading on a nearby table. However, she didn't stand up from her chair as she addressed me. "I never thought that I would live long enough to hear your voice again, Minister Remington. Why did you come back?"

I moved closer to where my old friend sat, but she still didn't turn to face me. I wanted to lie to her; to tell her that I returned because I wanted to see her again and talk about the old times. It didn't seem fair to do that. Both of us had been through too much to expect anything less than the truth from the other.

"Aion's back," I said after a long minute of silence.

She snorted and pointed to a chair next to hers. "Figures. I never believed for a minute that Chrono completely killed that son of a bitch. How'd you find out about him?" she asked as she finally looked at me.

Her eyes were as bright as they had been five and a half decades ago, and I was grateful. At least there was still one other person besides the Sinnerwho knew about the past. Hell, she seemed as vibrant as she had as a young woman. She was just older.

"I lived with him for three months. He's starting to look for the Apostles again. He wants to gain control of humanity and fulfill his role as the Anti-Christ."

"Well, at least he's persistent," she muttered. "Do you think you can end it?"

I shrugged. "Probably. I have a few things up my sleeve, but so does he. All I know is; when I do find him, it won't be pretty, and there's a good chance neither one of us will come out alive."

She nodded and turned her eyes back onto the window. "You didn't come here to tell me about your almost certain demise, did you?"

"That wasn't the intent, no."

"Did you come to talk to me about the ones left behind?"

I nodded. She sighed heavily.

"Start with anyone you want. I just need to hear about what happened," I said, and even I caught the hint of desperation in my voice.

"Then you can let it rest?" She sounded weary, as if she had long ago grown tired of speaking of things buried.

I too looked outside to see the snow gently falling to the ground. "I just need some closure, Anna. I know it's rather selfish of me, but maybe if I have that, I can completely get on with the process of moving on. I was _almost_able to do it with Aion, but when I returned to the Order, I just felt like I had betrayed everyone by letting go without knowing what happened to them."

"I'll start with Mary, but just be aware, Ewan. I don't think you'll like a lot of what I have to say."

In the end, that was fine. I knew that I wasn't going to enjoy what fate had given my comrades. The pain of knowing would ultimately be easier to live with than the pain of never finding out.

That's what I kept telling myself at least.

"Mary died in '56 during a mission. We were attacking a nest of demons that had kidnapped ten or so children. It was supposed to be a standard job, so we didn't think too much of it. Things were fine one moment, and the next, the building burst into flames. We had a mutual friend helping us, and he insisted that he would get the demons. Mary and I got the children out safely, but our friend didn't come out right away. Mary ran back inside to help him, and everything went to hell. The structure started to collapse, and…and she didn't come back out. Our friend did, and when he heard that she had gone inside to rescue him, he tried to turn around and go back in. It was only sheer force of will and the threat of getting shot that kept him from running back in.

"We found her body the next day, and she didn't have a single burn on her. She died from smoke inhalation and a broken back. Our friend never forgave himself for letting her die and he left soon after her funeral.

"Claire died in '90. She married a veteran in '45 and they had four children. She brought them here all the time, to visit and to learn what the Order did. She was happy, but after she left, we never spoke that much. Her world had changed, and that was that."

"What about Az and Kate?"

"Az…," Anna sighed before she started again, "Az died three years ago, Remington. I'm surprised that she lived as long as she did. She was ready to go a long time ago."

"Why was she ready to die? She was fine when I left. Was it because of Mary?" I asked, not understanding why a young woman so full of life would change so drastically.

"She met someone, Ewan. They loved each other very, very much. He promised that he would come back from the War, and he never did. It broke her heart when she found out about his death. She figured a demon would have a better shot at surviving the horrors of Normandy than a human would."

I quickly turned my eyes back onto the elderly sister. "She was in love with a demon? But…when did they meet?"

"They meet in '39. She told me first out of our little group, and even that was a, 'I met a nice gentleman, and his friend has invited us to his jazz club. Do you want to come?' He reminded me a lot of Chrono if it means anything to you. He was dedicated to blending in with humans, and he would hunt down demons that refused to do the same. He was a good man, and a good friend," she said calmly.

"Why didn't she tell me?"

"Why would she want to? Being in love with someone technically goes against the creed of the Order. She didn't want to hurt anyone. Besides, being in love with a demon? She was just asking for removal and a black stamp by her name for the rest of her life."

"What took her?" I asked, feeling more depressed by the minute.

"Time and bad health. I can't remember the exact diagnosis they gave her, but it killed her in the end."

"Was…was she happy?"

Anna smiled. "Yes, at the end, she was happy."

I leaned back in the chair again, and sighed. "What happened to Kate?"

"She suffered a stroke in '62. She retired the year before and was looking forward to finally relaxing. Obviously that got cut much shorter than she would have liked, but for the time she had, she enjoyed it." Anna paused before continuing. "Speaking of Kate, have you found the letter she left in your room?"

"What are you talking about? I'm not in the same room. Why would she leave a letter in a room that I never spent time in?"

"Have you really _looked_, Ewan? I heard that the new transfer had been put into your old room. Seeing as you're the new transfer, they just put you right back where you belonged. It's not like they touched the place. All the heads forbid it on grounds that you'd return at some point or another."

Surveying my room hadn't been high on my list. The past day had been little more than a blur, and other than sleeping there, there had been no reason to stay for any long period of time. I hadn't really _looked_.

"No. I didn't even realize where I was until you mentioned it. Do you know what the letter says?"

"My guess is that it says the things that Sister Kate wanted to declare, but never could. Most of us had things like that, but we didn't want to worry you while you were away in Europe. We figured you had enough to deal with dodging bullets and fretting over Joshua's health.

"I think that Kate had the most to say though. It wasn't obvious to most people, but she became distant after your departure. She was probably just lonely, and unlike most of us, she didn't have anyone to talk to."

"Who did you confide in?" I inquired.

"A few people. Azmaria, Mary, and that mutual friend I mentioned earlier were the main ones. Mary and I were probably closest to him because we knew that he would never talk about our problems to anyone, but then Mary died and he left and it was just Az and me."

There was a heavy silence as we both looked out the window again and watched the snow continue to pile up on the sidewalks below. There was a hollow pain in my chest, but…it didn't feel like the over whelming regret I had known before I lived with Aion. It just felt like I was saying good-bye to people whom I would never see again.

"And that's that?" I asked once silence had finished settling around us.

"That's that, Minister Remington. I rather enjoyed our conversation. Tomorrow when you see me, you'll have to tell me how your training sessions are going with Minister Jonathon. I'd like to hear about that."

"Certainly, Sister Anna. I think that I'd like that as well."

I got up to leave when I heard her say one last thing to me. "Keep the letter to yourself, Ewan. It was written for you and for you alone, so there's no point in sharing it."

"Sure thing," I replied as I left her and started walking back towards my own room.

Just like that: fifty-five years summed up in two hours. Somehow it made perfect sense that such a seemingly long period of time could be put into so few words.

That's really how my own life was if I took the time to think about it: Long, but easily condensed.

X X X

Anna was right: Once I decided to actually _look_ at the room I had been assigned to, I recognized it as my own instantly. I should have noticed it earlier when I grabbed some clothes from my dresser and they had been covered in dust, yet, I just brushed it aside as some unimportant detail. Hell, I hadn't even wondered _why_ I had clothes in my room in the first place; it wasn't as if I had gone to pick up any spares.

Sitting down heavily on the bed, I glanced at the night-stand closest to me. Without even thinking about it, I opened the drawer, and there lay an old-yellowed letter with neat letters reading: _To Minister Ewan Remington_.

_Formal to the end, huh, Kate?_ I thought as I carefully picked up the envelope.

I didn't open it though.

I wanted to. I wanted to try and let go of the last pieces of my past, but a little voice in the back of my mind held me off.

_Do you really want to open up old wounds? Do you really want to know her last words to you? Can't you just rest with what Anna gave you?_ it said quietly.

_But I feel like I've lived a whole life running from the past. I don't want this one to be running from the ghosts. Why not close off one last loose end?_ I replied, but the voice offered no answer.

Ultimately, I put it back unread. I was just going to leave it for a rainy day I told myself. No big deal.

Just then, I heard a knock on the door, and Minister Grishdun's voice came through the solid wood.

"Minister Remington? The Elder would like to see you."

I slowly pushed myself up and went out into the hallway. Before I closed locked everything to make my way towards the small cottage the Elder still inhabited, I eyed the room and sighed.

"Welcome home," I muttered before I shut with the door with a snap.

* * *

I'm pretty certain that Remington will stop being so angsty in upcoming chapters. Maybe.

Um, there are reasons why Anna isn't saying this friend's name. He will show up at some point or another, but I haven't decided how much I'm going to talk about him in this story. I can safely say that in the Azmaria story I'm working on, much more will be revealed about certain characters, but since this one is more about Remington and Aion, the story is going to be more focused on those two.

Reviews make my day, and don't be afraid to ask questions or correct me on things. I always appreciate it.


	10. Chapter 10

So, uh...I didn't get this one out before college. However, I think the sheer length of this chapter makes up for the wait. Initially it started off as being another of my 3000 word chapters. In other words, average length.

This is now the longest chapter in the story. So, thank you OtherCat who kept telling me to make them longer! It felt good to write something like this.

Lots of little plot things going on, and I do plan on expending on them in upcoming chapters. One of the characters we still won't meet for a while, but he's been mentioned at least.

Thanks to squishythejellyfih and OtherCat for reviewing.

* * *

Chapter 10

The Elder's cottage was a mess.

It was a different mess than what Elder Hamilton kept constant, but I still wondered how this one found anything between the essays on Astral Fluctuations and Hardee's wrappers.

When Grishdun and I entered the small building, we were greeted with a squeak and papers falling about. The other minister just seemed to chuckle at the damage our visit caused, but he didn't do anything to rectify the situation. Maybe this was nothing more than the usual way the Elder greeted guests.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Sorry about how it looks. I've just had so many ideas that I haven't had time to clean! I think that I may have finally figured out how to get the…," as the Elder stepped out from around a corner, she stopped speaking, and I just stared.

"Yes, Minister Remington, meet our Elder. Elder, meet Minister Ewan Remington. I'm certain that you've heard about him," Grishdun said.

The Elder perked right up at hearing my name and instantly grabbed my hand in a rather strong handshake.

"_You're_ the infamous Minister Remington? I've read so many papers about you! The Elder from the '30's to the '60's seemed to have this love affair with you so he kept trying to work on a machine that could detect…is it divine energy that you have? Well, the machine never worked, but the idea behind it was fantastic, and it paved the way for some of the other things we've since made! Oh, it's such an honor to meet you!"

She spoke so fast that I had a hard time completely understanding her. So, I nodded and tried to piece it together on my own. Of course, I had no idea if I should be flattered by the fact that I had something of a stalker for almost thirty years who tried to track down my location via a machine. Didn't he know that I had only lived a few miles away in the thirties?

"Um, do you mind if I ask you how long you've worked for the Order? You, uh, don't look old enough to be the Elder of all things," I said, trying to make conversation and at the same time trying think of a better way to phrase my question. I didn't find any.

The young woman pushed up her glasses and stood straight. In a strange way, she reminded me a lot of Shader…Except Shader had cat ears and the Elder had long, slightly frizzy hair. Really, those were the only differences I noted right away.

"I graduated at the top of my class at MIT, and I've been working here for four years. So what if I'm only twenty-eight? I know what I'm doing," she ended her response with a glare and some toe tapping.

"I don't doubt that. It's just that you're a lot younger than I would have expected. Elder Hamilton didn't take over the duties of this position until his mid-thirties."

Thankfully Minister Grishdun stepped in before I could insert my foot even deeper into my mouth.

"As interesting as it is to listen to you two, I think that we came here to pick up Minister Remington's new weapon. After he gets it, both of you are more than welcome to continue your discussion," he grinned.

"Right! I almost forgot about it. Hold on…," the Elder ran back around the corner she had been behind before our arrival.

_I don't want to be here, _I thought as I listened to her move objects around and shuffle articles about in an attempt to find my gift. I wanted to be back in my room thinking about things that I could never change. I wanted to be out on the grass with Jonathon bettering myself so that I could kill Aion and maybe,_ maybe_ get out alive myself when the time came for our confrontation. I wanted to be doing something other than standing around waiting for a weapon that probably would be useless for everything other than standard missions.

The Order was really going out of its way for me though. It really, really was.

I glanced at Grishdun and raised an eyebrow. "You didn't tell anyone else, about me huh?" I said it with a chuckle just to get the point across that I wasn't upset about her knowing. It made sense that someone besides the headmasters would write about me.

"If previous Elders left behind notes about you, then that's their prerogative. We never mentioned anything to her," he answered.

After as minute or two of frantic scrambling, there was a loud, "Ah _ha!_" and the Elder returned carrying a metallic briefcase.

"I think that you'll like it. It's not quite like your old one, but that thing went out of style a long time ago." She carefully handed me the case and waited for me to open it.

Setting it down on perhaps the only clean surface on all of the tables that littered the room, I popped the lid and stared at the shining stainless steel gun and brown leather holster that lay there.

"It's a .41 Magnum. Not as big as the .44, but it packs more of a punch than a standard Exorcist .45. You can use both Sacreds and Gospels in it; though try not to waste them. They cost a lot more than the .45s. If you want to shoot it, we have regular bullets that work just fine in it," she explained as I picked up the hefty revolver and got a feel for its weight.

"Do you have any energy swords?" I asked after admiring the gun for a minute.

The magnum was nice. Beautiful actually, but I had never been _that_ fond of them. I preferred slicing through demons with a sword, and a gun just didn't provide the same satisfaction. Besides, a sword was much better for close encounters. A gun? Well, unless you wanted to try and pistol whip that cranky devil into submission once you ran out of bullets…

The Elder looked at Grishdun who merely shrugged.

"We don't have energy swords…Did you use one before?" she inquired.

I was at a loss for words. The energy swords had been Elder Hamilton's pride and joy. For them to just up and disappear would be cause for him to turn in his grave.

"Yes. Hamilton made one for me around the turn of the century. He only ever made two, and the second was destroyed almost a day after its completion," I said.

The Elder started to gnaw on her bottom lip as if in thought.

"I'll go look through his old papers. If it's one thing I'm good at, it's organizing other people's work, so I should be able to find something about it. If I do, would you want me to make you one?"

"I'd be honored if you're able to do so. He only ever made two because it was expensive and the materials weren't readily available to make them."

"So it'd be like me making you a lightsaber without the nifty droid to test it out first. I can do that," she said with a sharp nod as if to further ingrain the point.

Which may have worked if I had any idea as to what a light saber was. I looked at Grishdun to see if he would offer any explanation, but he was silently laughing to himself.

_Great, _I thought,_ don't they realize that I have _no _idea what they're talking about? At least Rosette would have…_and at the thought of Sister Rosette, I realized how trivial it was that I was complaining about not having an energy sword and not knowing what anyone was talking about.

"Do you want any help looking through his files?" I asked once I had stopped feeling sorry for myself.

"Wha…?" she began before realizing that I was speaking with her, "Yeah, sure, if you want. I've got a thing I'm finishing up, but if you want to come by after dinner that'd be great. Minister Grishdun, I do need to speak with you for a minute."

I got the hint, and after a "Thank you," I left with my new weapon and returned to the dormitory. I considered leaving the case behind with the Elder, but her tone with Grishdun indicated to me that she had wanted to speak with him then. Besides, the container was nice, and maybe I could find a use for it.

As I walked along the snowy pathways to the dorm, I was almost hit by a young nun as she slipped along the sidewalk. A second later, her two friends followed suit.

"Are you three alright?" I asked once they had regained their balance.

"Yeah, we're fine. Hey! It's Minister Remington!" the girl that had originally skidded along my path proclaimed.

I nodded and the three girls beamed.

"I guess you survived Sister Florence. We didn't see where you decided to room though," one of the other girls said. It took me a moment to realize that these were the same girls from the day before, and they were just as talkative as they had been at our first meeting.

"Oh, they gave me one to myself. I have a tendency to stay up late researching various topics. It wouldn't be fair to any roommate that I would have."

"So you were the one that took that old unused room? Why'd they give you that one?"

I smiled and shrugged. "No idea. There must be some logic behind it that we're not allowed to know."

The four of us walked together before I noticed something.

"You know what? I don't think that we were properly introduced yesterday. You all obviously know my name, but you three haven't told me yours."

The young women all stopped, stared at each other, and then looked back at me.

"We didn't?" they asked in unison. I was seriously being to wonder if they had some kind of psychic connection. I shook my head.

"My name is Julia," the one that almost ran into me said.

"I'm Samantha," the one with dark hair and eyes grinned.

"I'm Linda," the third one chimed in.

"Good, now that we're all properly introduced maybe you can help me with something."

"We'll do what we can," Julia said.

"Well," I began before thinking about how silly my request sounded, "No, you three have better things to do than help me out."

The girls, however, didn't share my reluctance.

"What do you need help with, Minister Remington?" Linda inquired.

"What's a light saber and who's Bruce Lee?"

They gasped. They looked at each other and _gasped_. Apparently not knowing these two things was worthy of surprise. Maybe even a little sympathy judging by the way they "awed" and turned their attention onto me shortly after their whispered conversation.

"You don't know what a lightsaber is? I-I'm so sorry. We'll fix that right away. We've got time to watch the first one before dinner," Julia said with what sounded like pity.

The trio dragged me back to the dorm, chatting the whole time about what they were going to show me and what they should do with the room layout. I didn't get it, but I listened carefully anyway to see if I _would_ get it.

After stomping our feet and hanging up our jackets, they pulled me over to the TV located in a little corner away from everything else. They told me to sit, and after some bustling about finally inserted a video into the VCR.

Other ministers and nuns began to join us after asking what movie we were watching. It was something called; "_Star Wars_" and they all appeared very excited by this information. I sat on the couch in confusion until they hit "play." There was a moment of silence as the words, "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…" came across the screen and then the most thunderous music I had ever heard erupted from the speakers.

X X X

"What happens next?" I asked mesmerized as the movie came to a stop. I hadn't allowed anyone to stop and rewind it during the credits as I was busy listening to the music. As far as I was concerned, it was too good to stop.

"Well, there's the _Empire Strikes Back_," one of the ministers muttered as he stood up and stretched.

"Can we watch it?" I inquired.

"Sure, but we have to go eat dinner. You should probably put that briefcase away anyway," Linda said. "We'll leave the second one out for you in case you get some time to watch it after dinner. I know that I've got a report to finish up."

I reluctantly got up and went to my room, but I was still thinking about that movie. The original trio would have loved it. Kate would have too, but she would have complained about how inappropriate it was for young women and men while secretly telling me how _amazing _Han Solo was. I could easily imagine Rosette going to the Elder and demanding that he make her a lightsaber to use before being told that no, he wasn't going to make her one, and oh, could he _please_ get his Tijuana Bibles back?

Yeah, they would have loved it.

Pulling out the .41 and the holster, I put it on and allowed my body to adjust to the foreign weight on my hip. It certainly weighed more than the .45 I used in Italy, but the weight wasn't uncomfortable. If anything, it felt like having an old friend back. True, I wanted my _other_ old friend back, but I could wait. Waiting was something I did very well.

Checking the magnum one last time, I headed back to the main lobby only to see the girls lingering around the TV and couch.

"You weren't hanging here for me to catch up, were you?" I inquired as I went over to them.

"Yeah, but we wanted to. We wanted to get to know you a little better," Sam smiled.

Julia said much the same thing to me, but Linda appeared distracted by something. She kept looking at my hip.

"The Elder gave you the .41 huh?"

"Have you had your eye on it?"

Her eyes went up to mine and she shook her head. "No, well…maybe a little."

"I'll let you try it out later if you want. After you three finish showing me _Star Wars_."

They laughed and dragged me off to the dining hall.

X X X

"So you were transferred here from Italy? Why don't you have an accent then?" Julia inquired.

"Because I'm not Italian. I lived there for a few years, but I learned English in America," I replied as I dug into a bowl of chicken noodle soup.

"How many does a few years constitute?" Sam asked.

"A few. I don't remember exactly," was my answer. I wasn't about to tell these girls how old I was or how long I lived in Italy. I figured I wasn't cheating them out of anything by being vague.

"But that doesn't explain your complete lack of pop culture knowledge. I mean, we're _nuns_ and we know more than you," Linda stated.

"I lived a very sheltered life is all," I tried explaining.

"He didn't know what _Star Wars _was, ladies. Did you expect him to know the most basic things if he didn't know that?" a familiar voice asked from behind me.

"Hello Minister Jonathon. Care to join us?" I asked as the man hung on my shoulder.

"If they don't mind," he said looking at the girls.

They didn't, and after introductions were made he sat down next to me and practically tore into his piece of chicken before moving onto the salad and piece of roast he'd been delegated.

"Did you not eat lunch?" Linda asked.

He shook his head as he drowned a glass of water. "Nope. I just need to eat a lot and I missed two of my snack times today. Those militia members needed a lot of work and I would've felt bad if I sat around yelling at them while I ate my protein bars.

"Speaking of the militia, why didn't I see you ladies out there training with them?"

"We're not militia members yet. We still need to go through and pass test," Sam said somewhat self consciously. Jonathon didn't appear to notice.

"Huh, I guess the next time I come out here to help Minister Remington I can look forward to working with you three."

"What are you helping Minister Remington with?" Linda asked.

Jonathon took a minute from devouring his food to answer. "I'm teaching him hand to hand combat. We're out on the green starting at five the morning if you want to watch and give us a hand."

"How would they do that?" I questioned.

He glanced at me before giving us all a very evil looking grin. "I have my ways. It'll certainly be painful for you, but you'll learn to take hits better."

I nodded slowly and finished off my soup. "I'll look forward to that. I've got to go. I told the Elder that I'd help her look for something. I'll see you all later," I said as I stood up and took care of my dishes.

Behind me I could hear the girls trying to get Jonathon to tell them what he had in mind, but he was too busy eating and mumbling incomprehensibly to give them a straight answer.

X X X

I knocked on the door to the Elder's cottage and waited for an answer. Someone was inside judging by the lights and the banging going on, but no one immediately came to the door. I knocked again, and it seemed that someone finally noticed me for there was a loud thud as something fell over and the door was thrown open.

"Oh, Minister Remington! Back so soon?" the Elder panted as she tried to regain her breathe.

"You did say to come back after dinner had been served. Is it still not a good time?"

"No! You're fine. Minister Grishdun and I were just working on something is all. I'll get out some of Elder Hamilton's papers and I'll let you go over them."

I stepped inside, tapped the snow from my boots, and realized that somehow the cramped cottage had gotten even worse since I left it earlier that day. It was an odd sensation, because the area looked cleaner than it had that afternoon.

"What are you working on back there?" I asked. The Elder wasn't really paying attention to me as she poked through cabinets and drawers to find journals for me to look at.

"Just…something. If we can get it to work properly we'll let you in on it, but right now it's in testing," she answered before grabbing an entire drawer out and handing it to me.

"Try that one first. I know that some of his research is in there, but I have no idea if it pertains to his work on energy swords. If you can't find anything, just give me a yell and I'll get you something else." With that, she went into the small back room. Rock music started blaring from the area, and I took that to mean the Elder and Grishdun didn't want me to listen in on their conversation.

_What could they possibly be doing back there that's so secret?_ I thought as I pulled some papers from the drawer and glanced at them.

The ones I had in my hand were about the silly machine Hamilton created to track down a demon using its horn. Good in theory, but it never did work the way he wanted it too.

The next ones were about the Gospels. I set those aside if anyone wanted to see how they came into being. As I continued through the papers, all I could find was information on _other _weapons and objects he made. The first drawer ended with what almost amounted to a novel of information on the lighted Christmas tree he made. The electric _Christmas_ tree.

"It's going to be a long night," I muttered as I put the papers back and called for the Elder.

It was two in the morning when we called off the search. The Elder had me go through _every single_ cabinet looking for anything that might help us in our quest to find Hamilton's research on the swords, but I found nothing. Not even a vague clue as to where to look.

Grishdun left the cottage around midnight after helping me go through the records for a few hours. The Elder forced him from the back room at some point, and I didn't mind the help.

"I've got a few more places that it might be, but if it wasn't here, there's a good chance that something happened to the papers. There's not much we can do if that's the case. I don't think the laws of physics allow for time machines," she sighed as she sat against a wall and watched as I straightened out a few of the remaining drawers and boxes.

"I'll survive. It's not as though I really need a new sword…it's just…,"I let my sentence trail off.

She nodded, and I thought that that was the end of our evening together. As I walked towards the door, she stopped me briefly. "You can call me Fred instead of Elder all the time. Everyone does unless they're being formal."

"What's Fred short for?"

She smiled. "Winifred."

"Well, try and get some sleep, Winifred. You've been working for a while," I said softly.

"Will do, Minister Remington."

As I walked out into the snow filled early morning, I realized that I only had a few more hours until my next training session.

_Might as well go watch the next movie_, I thought as I returned to the dorm.

X X X

When I walked out onto the green the later that morning I was startled to see the three girls huddled on the bench drinking coffee and looking very bitter about the cold and being up at five in the morning.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked as I pulled off my top and started to stretch.

"We're going to help with your training. Minister Jonathon hasn't specified as to _what_ we're doing exactly, but that's what we're here for," Sam muttered before huddling into her jacket even more and sipping her drink.

"I couldn't give away the surprise last night! That would've ruined the whole thing, and you wouldn't have agreed to participate," the other minister grinned as he threw some light jabs and bounced lightly on his toes.

"Why wouldn't we have agreed to participate?" Linda asked nervously.

Jonathon stopped his shadow boxing and walked over to a duffle bag tossed carelessly into the snow. He opened it, extracted three items, and walked over to where the girls sat.

"These," he said as he handed each of them a handgun, "are for you. They're loaded with rubber bullets, so please be careful."

"What are we going to do with them?" Julia inquired, looking at the gun with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, you're going to shoot Minister Remington whenever he screws something up."

They jumped at that remark and began to yell at him simultaneously. I don't blame them as I didn't particularly _want_ to be shot with rubber bullets. They certainly wouldn't kill me, or really even do anything to me, but it was the point of the matter: getting shot by anything _hurt_.

The nuns argued their case brilliantly, but Jonathon wouldn't be swayed. Instead, he turmed towards me and began to bark orders off.

I did well for a while. Nothing happened, the other minister seemed pleased with my performance, the girls didn't have to move from the bench, and then it happened: I slipped slightly on a muddy patch and he noticed. I corrected myself quickly, but the next thing I knew…

"Julia, shoot him."

"But Minister Jonathon, he fixed it, and it wasn't even that noticeable," she muttered.

"Yeah, and if he does that against his foe he'll be dead. Shoot."

Julia hesitated for a moment, and then she shot. I give her credit, because she had great aim even with mittens and five layers of clothing on. The bullet hit right my thigh and I hopped about for an instant while I waited for the sting to dissipate.

"This gives you both practice you know," he explained after I regained my composure. "He gets to know that messing up causes pain and you all get to practice your aim on a more human target. No better practice for hunting demons then getting to hit something that moves and looks just like them."

The girls mumbled their appreciation. I glared at the snow and continued on with listening to his commands.

At ten o'clock I was sore, tired, and I wanted to kill Jon. I had been shot twenty times. Or, as he put it, "You've died twenty times now. Fifty if I'd been fighting you in a real match, and probably many more times if you were fighting your foe."

He was careful mentioning names. It wasn't Aion, or a demon, it was always my foe. A nameless, intangible beast that could strike at any moment, but didn't.

We thanked the girls as they left to get some breakfast and to warm up, and the other minister turned to talk to me.

"Sorry about the rough lesson."

"No you're not," I grumbled as I sat down on the bench and pulled my top back on.

"I am! I didn't want to do it, but yesterday after our lessons I heard some rumblings that I might be going back to Chicago early."

I looked up at him. "You've been teaching me for a day. Why do they need to you back so soon?"

He glanced around before sitting down next to me. "My guess? Something happened with the contract we have with the Demon Lord of the Midwest."

"You're joking, right? Why would the Order make a contract with a Demon Lord?" I asked, and he quickly quieted me down.

"Not so loud! Look, most of the branches do. It's a way to keep the peace between the devils and the humans. If we hear about a problem before the lord of the region does, we're free to take care of it ourselves. If it's a high ranking demon causing problems, the lord deals with it himself. Their numbers are dwindling, and they can't afford to lose any demons that they don't need to. If we get to a place at the same time to deal with the same situation, there are all these rituals that have to commence before anything happens.  
"Anyway, there's always someone from each branch that the lord talks to. Most people don't know who the contact is for each branch, and it's better that way. I'm the bodyguard for the Chicago Branch's contact, and if something's happened over there, I need to go."

I sat silently for a minute. This is what it had come down to, huh? The Order was back to making deals with demons even though it had caused them so much trouble back in the '20's. Maybe it was for the better, letting demons deal with their problems, but I couldn't shake the feeling of dissatisfaction deep within my chest.

"Do you know anything about our demon lord?" I asked.

"Not much, and you probably won't hear much about him. What I do know is that he's one of the most powerful devils alive, and he does just about anything he wants to. I have no idea who your contact is, and I doubt Sister Florence is going to tell either me or you.  
"Ah, fuck…I shouldn't have even said anything to you…," he said as he tilted his head over the back rest of the bench.

"It's fine. It saves some questions for later if I did find out," I replied as I stood up and walked back to the dorm to get some food. Jonathon followed close behind.

"Don't think any less of the Order. This protects us and the demons. Most devils just want to blend in and live their lives in peace," he said in an accusatory tone.

"I know. The demons have every right to live in harmony like humans," I said as I pushed opened the door only to be greeted with the TV blaring on one of the news stations. Several militia members were seated around it looking thoroughly bored, but no one got up to change the channel.

"…and in an interesting update, weapons contracting giant, MINATAUR, has announced plans to open a North American facility in the Midwest. No word yet on where the facility will be housed."

I stopped dead in my tracks. This wasn't happening. I did _not_ just hear the name of the company where Aion worked.

"We'll take you to the live press conference in Rome." The image of the reporter switched to a shot of Aion dressed in a neatly pressed suit speaking to a large crowd. "We've been doing very well in Europe over the past few decades, and we want to give the North American crowd some competition. Our goal is to have the plans finalized within the next few months for all of you. When we do, we'll be certain to hold another conference," he stated before allowing reporters to ask him questions.

"He's provoking me," I whispered, and Jonathon glanced at me.

"It's a weapons contractor talking about building a facility in the middle of nowhere. So what?"

"That man," I said, pointing at the figure on the TV, "is the one that I'm going to kill. He's baiting me, and this is likely why you've heard those muttering about having to go back to Chicago already. The demons there probably know what's happening, and they'll be damned if they let him come back without a fight. He took their home away the last time he did something drastic. He'll take everything else if he gets a chance."

He stared at the TV and frowned. "That's him? He looks so…"

"Proper?" I supplied, and he tilted his head.

"I was going to say businessy, but yeah, I guess that works too."

One of the journalists stood up and asked a surprising question—one that was completely out of place at a company Q and A.

"Baron, I know this isn't the time or place, but I've heard rumors that you were going to open some orphanages throughout the world…is this correct?"

He smiled, and nodded. "Yes, that's correct. Just because our business builds weapons does not mean that we cannot think of the children. In my life I have had many dealings with orphans and orphanages, and it breaks my heart to see some of the conditions these children live in on a daily basis. It is my hope to build over six hundred and fifty orphanages around the world and to improve the lives of thousands, if not _millions_ of young people across the globe."

Thunderous applause filled the room and the image returned to the reporter at the desk. She made a brief comment about the historic nature of this announcement, and then she proceeded to switch topics.

It didn't matter. I knew what he was doing, and damn it, he was doing a _great _job too. _"It is my hope to build over six hundred and fifty orphanages…,"_ Oh, I knew what number he meant, but he was subtle about it. He wanted six hundred and sixty six. Six, six, six, the mark of the beast. No one would suspect orphanages of having anything to do with the Antichrist.

"What's so bad about him building some orphanages? I can see why the demons would upset over the weapons facility, but that?" Jonathon asked, not understanding why this was so critical.

"He's doing this to find the Apostles. Their lives are generally marked by tragedy, and what better way to find parentless children then in centers that you own and operate? It's also an attempt to get me out hiding. He's telling me to come and find him before he builds these. He's itching for a fight, but I'm not giving in just yet."

"Because you're not ready yet."

I shook my head. "Because he hasn't found any of them yet. If he had, he'd be parading it everywhere that he just adopted this poor helpless child. He failed in changing the prophesy with Mary Magdalene, but he thinks that he can get it to work if he uses the Apostles this time."

Jonathon looked at me and frowned. "If he does find one?"

"I have to go. I made him a promise, and I don't go back on my word."

"You'll die."

I sighed and nodded. "That's why I'm hoping he doesn't find one anytime soon. That, and I'm really praying he doesn't have a beast with two horns like a lamb that speaks like a dragon."

Jonathon laughed at that, but I was being serious despite my comment. It helped to lighten the mood before the intercom blared over the TV and into every nook and cranny in the room.

"Minister Jonathon and Minister Remington please see Sister Florence in her office immediately," the speaker called and my friend groaned.

"Not Florence," he whined.

"Why does everyone have a problem with her? She seemed perfectly fine to me when I saw her the other day," I commented as we went back outside and towards the administrative building.

"You haven't seen her when she's pissed off," was all he said.

Once we arrived at the building, we were quickly ushered toward the head sister's office only to see that the doors were opened and she sat behind her desk looking very weary.

"Minister Remington, please shut the door," she asked once we were inside. Minister Grishdun was leaning against the wall in much the same manner I used to do when speaking with Kate.

"I'll get the good news out of the way first, Minister Jonathon, you're allowed to stay for your two week allotment before returning to Chicago. I've been told that Minister Charleston will temporarily take over your duties until you return."

"Any word on how well the Eastern Coast lord is taking this?" Jonathon inquired, and Grishdun answered.

"No, but word just got out a few hours ago. He's likely taking his time like he always does. Our best guess is that we'll be contacted later today or tomorrow with his plan of action."

"Minister Remington? Do you know what we're talking about?" Florence asked, and I nodded.

"I was informed earlier today about the contracts. I admit to not knowing much else about them."

"Perfect. That's all you need to know about them. Now, the Elder wanted me to give you this. She said she found it while going through her desk of all places," Florence said before handing me a sheet of paper with a note attached to it.

I glanced at it, and at once, all my hopes and dreams of getting a new sword in the next few months were dashed.

_Minister Remington, _

_I was cleaning out my desk drawer this morning and stumbled across this little gem. Apparently Hamilton had the papers buried with him to prevent something from happening to them. Maybe he thought they would wind up in the wrong hands? Well, it's unlikely that we'll be able to get them back, so I'll try and come up with an alternate solution for you. _

_Winifred_

"Thank you," I said to the sister as I carefully placed both papers in my pocket.

"That will be all for you, Minister Remington. Minister Grishdun and I still need to talk to Minister Jonathon about a few things."

I nodded and left the room, but not before making certain the massive doors shut firmly behind me.

_Damn_, I thought as I took the papers out and looked at them again. Sure enough, the old piece contained Hamilton's messy writing and explicit instructions to bury every single paper on the swords with him. He briefly mentioned destroying the one I had owned as well, but he gave no explanation for it.

I didn't understand. He died a few years before I was drafted, but we still kept in constant contact with each other. I thought for certain he would leave something behind for me to find if I returned.

"Ah, Minister Remington, I didn't think I'd see you here."

I looked over my shoulder to see Anna walking towards me in a fairly fast shuffle.

"I had to talk to Sister Florence about something. What are you doing here though?"

She smiled and shrugged. "Taking a walk. I was going to go down to this little grocer's if you wanted to join me."

"Why not? I've got nothing else to do today," I smiled before taking her arm and letting her tell me where to go. I made certain that the notes were places securely in my pocket, and then we left.

* * *

Tiajuana Bibles were little porn booklets that were sold during the '20's and so forth. I imagine that the Elder had quite a stack of them.

Remington will finish Star Wars soon. I figure that he'd watch the original movies multiple times and then complain about the Prequals when they come out.  
His joke about the beast with the horns of a lamb is from Revelations. I'm assuming I'm getting the second beast right as there are two of them, and the first one is supposed to be the Antichrist.

It is a distinct possibility (I find myself saying this a lot) that I'll add more to this chapter. The ending feels unfinished, but at the same time, it just started to ramble on and on. So, I'll play around with an ending to it, and if I like it, I'll edit this.

Reviews make me happy, but thank you for reading anyway!


	11. Chapter 11

Well, this was certainly a longer wait than I anticipated. This is also a much longer chapter than I originally intended. For the wait, I sincerly apologize. It should not have taken me four months to update this.

However, before I get to the story, I would once again like to thank OtherCat, Banditsama, and Snooosh for helping me with a paper for one of my college papers. Really guys, I can't thank you enough for taking the time to answer those questions for me.

Edit: There were some changes made to this chapter (spelling, a missing word, etc., etc) but nothing too drastic.

* * *

Chapter 11

Jonathon was leaving.

Minister Grishdun noticed my general melancholy as I went to sit with him at his little table.

"He'll be back soon."

I nodded as I drank a little water from my water bottle. "I know. I also know that I won't leave with bruises after every training session now, and that will be nice. That has no bearing on the fact that I'm going to miss him and his strange habits."

Grishdun chuckled and sipped at his own drink. "I know what you mean. Jon's all about tough love and digging it into your brain what to do and what not to do. I'll try and make up for it on the days I work with the militia."

"That's not your full time job?" I asked.

"I work with Fred mostly. This morning I'm on patrol for a few hours, but I'll be back at her cottage at four or so if you want to join us. We're really far behind on our Christmas presentation," he said before looking at the clock.

"Time for me to be going," I muttered standing up.

"Have fun out there. I'll cheer you on when I go by you two."

"Thanks. I have no idea what he's got planned for today," I said as I stretched a little.

"Oh! Sister Anna wanted me to tell you that her package will be here today. She's going to pick it up around noon or so. She wants you to go with her," the other minister called as I walked towards the door.

"Why doesn't she ask you to go?" I asked, pausing briefly.

"I've got too much to do. Besides, I think she'd feel safer with you with all this snow."

"Thanks for letting me know. Hopefully I'll be cleaned up by then. See you later."

He waved me away, and I walked towards the green.

X X X

As I made my way to Jonathon and our bench I saw three stamped out cigarettes on the ground, and he was grinning like a school boy.

"I need to get it out of my system before I go back home," he said before standing up and walking out onto the snow covered grass. He moved his arms side to side and jumped around a little to get his blood moving again.

"What techniques are we working on today?" I called before stepping back to avoid a kick to my head.

"We're sparring! Now, give me your all or you can forget about me coming back here. If you can hit me before I knock you out, then we'll call it a day," he smiled as he bounced back and dropped into the stance that I was so familiar with. I grinned back and bent my knees as well.

This wasn't going to be like the first night we met. Sure, he might still kick my ass, but at least I'd put up a fight. Letting the smile drop off his face, he rushed at me, and I met his assault with a block and an elbow to the head.

X X X

I don't know how long we'd been at it. At some point during our exchange a crowd gathered, and ministers started calling out bets and the trio shouted out cheers for me. I paid no attention to our audience though; all my focus was centered on the man before me.

Jonathon was hard to break; he was incredibly in shape, even for a guy that had just smoked three cigarettes before entering long fist fight. As far as I could tell, he offered few to no openings, and seemed to catch even the smallest mistakes I made. If I miss-stepped even a centimeter, he would try sweeping my legs out from under me, or—as happened more often than not—he'd get into my guard and give my stomach a rather painful jab. He was trying to incapacitate me, and he was doing a marvelous job of it.

Putting some distance between us, I wiped some blood from my face onto my sleeve. More blood started to drip from a cut above my eye, but I ignored it in favor of watching Jon. I refused to believe that he was still fine and dandy after how many hours of fighting. True, I may not have given him a direct hit yet, but he had blocked more than enough of my punches and kicks. If nothing else, his forearms should have been burning like hell. After all, he was still just a human. I had an advantage over him both in regards to speed and strength.

"Come on, Remy! You'll never beat me just standing around over there!" he called as he twisted his head from side to side.

Then I saw it; the smallest of drops in his guard. Likely he hadn't even noticed or he would have caught me as I moved.

I expected him to stop me. I figured that my seeing this slip was his intention, and that going for it would could me the match. I went for it though, and running faster than he could see, I knocked his arms out of the way and hit his stomach with my palm. Jonathon looked shocked for all of a second before he went flying backward into the grass. I brought my hands back up to my face as I watched him slowly pull himself up, but he just held up a hand and waved me down before letting his body react to my hit in the best way it knew how.

"Shit," he gasped as he spit out the last of the vomit in his mouth. "In the ten years I've been with the Order, I've never once been hit …shit," he said again for good measure as I walked over to him.

"Are you going to be alright?" I asked as I kneeled beside him. He looked up at me and nodded.

"I'll be fine. Just bring me over to the medical building."

I carefully helped him onto his feet and led him over to the indicated structure, but I couldn't help but hear the whispered conversations going on behind us now that my mind was no longer on my own self preservation.

"How'd he do that?"

"I didn't know that anyone could hit someone that hard."

"Are we _sure_ Minister Remington hasn't had prior training?"

So, they were curious now. Fair enough, but I just hoped that none of them would ask me how I did it. It was bad enough that all of them had gathered around to watch us. I didn't want to have to lie to anyone. So, I hurried my friend off as quickly as I could, hoping that no one would stop us.

"Minister Remington?" I groaned as I halted and both Jon and I glanced behind us to see Sam, Linda and Julia standing there. They tried to sound curious and interested, but their faces betrayed their fear.

"Yeah? What's the matter?" Jonathon asked before grimacing in pain.

"What…what just happened out there?" Julia inquired.

"We were sparring," I replied, hoping they'd drop it there.

"That didn't look like sparring. You're both covered in blood, and you guys were out there for hours. That's not just sparring," Linda said as she folded her arms.

"We'll explain it later. Right now I've got to get Minister…," I paused when I realized I had never been told Jon's last name, "I've got to get Minister Jonathon to the clinic to get his chest looked at. If you want to follow us there, be our guests. We won't tell you anything more until then," I stated before I readjusted my grip on my friend and resumed walking.

They did follow us. I give them credit; they wanted answers, and they were willing to follow the wolves despite watching them bite and claw at each other not a minute before. Jon didn't say anything to me during our trip, and as we made our way inside the small building he made me tell the nun at the desk why we were there.

"Are you sure you don't need any stitches either?" she questioned as she looked at the blood on my face. Some nurses took Jonathon away on a stretcher, but before he went he tossed me his gauntlets. "X-rays," he muttered as they wheeled him away.

"It's already healed. I just haven't had the time to clean it up yet," I explained.

She handed me some alcohol wipes and told me to prove that the cut was okay before I sat down. She pointed me in the direction of the bathroom and I went without complaint. Sam wanted to come with me to make certain I cleaned out the apparent wound well, but I managed to appease her by saying she'd be the first to see that the cut was already healed.

Once in the bathroom, I looked at myself and frowned. My face did look horrible and I could understand why everyone was so concerned about me. Blood had dried on my face from the cut, but as I predicted, the original gash was gone. My jaw on the other hand, wouldn't be so quick to fix itself. I could count at least two separate instances where Jonathon had managed to upper cut it, and that wasn't counting the times his gauntleted fist connected with other parts of my skull. Well, at least I was able to take hits better…

_And speaking of those gauntlets_, I thought as I looked down at the heavy silver colored items. They were still in my left hand, and I took a moment to examine them closer.

At a glance they weren't anything special, but after I looked at them again, I could see different patterns engraved on the surface. They were so fine that in the wrong light, they couldn't be seen at all.

_Jon said they were given to him by his mentor and she got them from a demon blacksmith. He must have etched them in, _I thought as I carefully inspected the workmanship. I gently rubbed my thumb over an engraving only to pull back with a hiss to see blood leaking from the digit.

"What?" I whispered, bringing them back up to the light. Not even my keen eyes could detect any abnormalities on the surface, and so I put the gauntlets down next to the sink. I'd ask Jonathon what the deal was.

I rubbed some water on my face, and wiped the blood away with a paper towel. The only evidence to suggest that I had been wounded was a small pink line above my eye. I knew that even that would fade given enough time, but it would prove my point that I was fine.

As I left the bathroom, I saw Sam standing nearby, waiting patiently to see me. I waved over to her, and after making a fuss by looking at my face from every conceivable angle, she finally decided that I hadn't been lying and, yes, my face was fine. She did try and insist that I should have my jaw looked at, but even that got shot down.

"In two hours you won't even know that I had been in a match. I promise," I told her gently as I steered her back towards the others.

"Are you planning on telling us what happened now?" Julia asked as I took a seat next to her and Linda.

"I don't know how much I'm allowed to say," I replied.

"Okay…were you sparing and it got out of hand or were you fighting to see who was better?" Linda inquired. That I could answer.

"We were sparring like we usually do. Minister Jonathon is training me for a specific task, and unfortunately, the best way for me to learn is through quick and violent means. I'm certain that none of you have forgotten the incident with the rubber bullets."

"And that entails you two beating the crap out of each other and getting others to help with that occasionally?" Julia asked again.

"I know that it looks horrible to anyone else watching, but it's what I need to do. My enemy is very competent fighter. I need to be one as well."

Sam remained quiet throughout the exchange before finally speaking up. "It seems that there's a lot that you can't tell us, Minister Remington."

"Yeah," I said quietly, "there is."

The waiting room silent again. The only things making noise were the nun at the desk and the constant ticking of a clock on the wall.

X X X

"Minister Remington?"

It had been two hours since anyone had said anything, and the nun's voice snapped all four of us out of our silent musings.

"Yes?"

"Minister Jonathon would like to see you. He's finished with his tests. His room is just down this hall."

I thanked her and walked the short distance to the indicated room.

Sticking my head inside, I looked at him and asked, "What's the news?"

"I think they said I cracked a rib, but as long as I take it easy for the next month or two or five I'll be fine," he muttered as he waved me inside.

I nodded as I entered and tossed gauntlets on the bed next to him. "What are the engravings on those?" I asked.

"The engravings? Crucifixes, pentagrams, things like that. It's to add to the already contradictory nature of the composition. Pentagrams hurt angels, crosses harm devils."

"And the reason I cut my thumb up when I ran it along the back?" I asked, ignoring his comment on the pentagrams for the moment.

"Oh, sorry I didn't tell you about those. There are micro-spikes along the back, and well, they're ridiculously sharp. There aren't any on the knuckles or the fingers, and I've never really understood why he only put the spikes on the arm guard part of it. Must be a reason for it."

"Micro-spikes? That certainly sounds like something a demon would put on something," I laughed.

"Yeah, but don't you angels make swords and spears that can hurt anything? It doesn't seem that farfetched for a demon to put spikes on what amount to arm guards." he said before settling into his bed. "Hey, sorry to cut this so short, but I think that I'm going to take a nap for a little while. Can you come pick me up around dinner or so? I figure that they'll let me go by then. Also, if my girlfriend calls looking for me, please don't tell her what happened. She worries about me enough as it is."

"Sure, but I can't make any guarantees that I'll be the one to answer should she call," I smiled before I left.

The girls stood up when I returned to the lobby and I waved them down.

"He's fine. He just needs to take it easy for a while is all. I'm heading back to the dorms to see Sister Anna."

The girls got up and followed me, but they remained at a distance until we got back to the dormitory. It was Sam that asked me the question that was likely on all their minds.

"Minister Remington…are you a devil?"

I stopped and looked at all three of them: Linda had a hand on her gun, Sam appeared nervous, and Julia stood stock still.

"I'm not a devil," I replied. "But I'm not what you think I am either. Talk to Sister Florence, and ask her if you're allowed to know."

"And then?" Linda asked, her voice cold.

"If she says yes, find me and we'll talk. I refuse to put your lives on the line before that. Now, I've got to go because I am late for a meeting. I'll see you later." Without another word, I entered the building and made my way to my old friend's room.

Well, attempted would be a better word. Several ministers and nuns stopped and congratulated me on, "kicking Jonathon's pretentious ass," and a few stopped me so that I could show them what I had done to win. One or two tried to look at my still recovering jaw, and it was all I could do to tell them that I was fine, Jonathon was fine, and it had just been practice.

"You sure you guys are okaysaw you two out there and…" the minister in question let out a low whistle and made a few light jabs in the air.

"As you can see, Minister Remington is perfectly alright, and I've been told that Minister Jonathon is resting. Now, if you'll please go back to your jobs," Minister Grishdun said as he walked into the lounge and towards me. A low grumbling bubbled up from the group, but they eventually went about their day.

"I see you made it back from your patrol alright," I said once we were mostly alone.

"Yeah, though I was almost late to leave because I stayed and watch you and Jon for so long. It was like watching two animals out there. Oh, you know that you're…"

"I know, and I'm sorry. I was waiting to hear about Jon and I didn't realize it would take so long."

"You don't have to apologize to me. Just go up and see her. Hopefully the package will still be there. I don't remember if there was a time limit as to how long he would wait around for her," Grishdun said

"Alright. I'll see you later then," I said before I started for my friend's room.

He returned the comment and went to take the TV from some younger ministers.

The last time I went with Anna to the little grocer, the clerk had shaken her head and said that the delivery wasn't there yet, and probably wouldn't be in for another week or two. This news hadn't bothered the old nun at all, and instead, she bought some small items to take back with her. I thought that it was strange that the place couldn't deliver the item to her given that she was so old, but I didn't say anything at the time.

I turned down the hall to Anna's room, when I almost collided with the elderly woman. She had been moving down the corridor at a brisk pace, apparently deciding that she was going with or without me.

"There you are, Minister Remington! I waited a while for you!" she scolded before taking my arm and leading me towards the exit.

"I roughed up Jonathon during our sparing session and I needed to make certain that he was okay first," I explained quickly. I was taken aback by her reprimand and her swift pace, and it was all I could do to mentally catch up.

"Well, I suppose I can forgive that. We have to hurry though. He won't wait around forever. In fact, he's already called twice looking for me."

"Why don't you have these packages delivered here?" I asked once we were outside in the cold air.

"I just can't," she muttered before casting a glance at the .41 magnum at my hip. "Oh, promise me that you won't pull that out."

"Why would I do that?" I asked.

"Just promise me, Ewan."

Anna didn't call me by my first name unless she meant it. I quickly promised her that, no, I wouldn't draw my gun. Besides, the gun wasn't even loaded. The weight was perfect to practice with, but there was no way I would risk anyone's safely by sparing with it loaded with highly explosive Gospels and Sacreds.

Besides, why would I want to pull out my gun to pick up a parcel from a grocer?

X X X

We arrived at the store within short order, and the clerk looked up from her magazine.

"Hello, Sister Anna! It's waiting in the back for you," she said cheerfully before letting her eyes dart over to me.

"Do you…?"

"Minister Remington is coming too. When I got the call I was asked to bring him along."

The clerk just nodded, but I was on edge now. The call I understood, but why would anyone want to see me? More specifically, besides the Order and Aion, who else knew that I was back? My hand almost went to sit on the handle of the gun, but a sharp look from Anna kept me from doing so. I had promised.

The woman got up from behind the counter and led us to a door marked "Employees Only." She quickly undid the lock and held the door open for us, but she didn't come in.

"It's in the usual spot, Sister Anna," was all she said before letting the door shut with a thud, leaving us in near darkness.

"You know where to go?"

"Of course I do. I come here all the time," the nun said as she weaved through stacks of food towards what appeared to be the only source of light in the whole area.

My guard was up as we walked through the store, and with good reason. The air was thick and my senses felt dulled. This place…something wasn't right with it.

"I see you finally managed to arrive, Sister Anna. I was about ready to call my backup if you didn't show up soon," a man's voice called out through the gloom.

"Minister Remington had some business to take care of that took longer than expected. We would have been on time otherwise."

"You brought him? Good…good," the voice said, and the hair on my neck stood on end. The voice sounded familiar, but I had no idea who it was. The accent sounded Old World, but then again, someone might have been putting on an air of sophistication. You could never tell anymore.

As we rounded a crate of cereal, I stopped dead in my tracks. There, sitting rather comfortably at a cheap metal desk, was a demon; a very high ranking demon judging by the human quality of his appearance. Even in the cheap light his hair was a dead giveaway. Few would believe that a man wearing an expensive suit would dye his hair navy blue for the fun of it.

"Come on, Minister Remington, we don't have all day. I've a club to go run and businesses to manage, and I'm certain that you've some kind of paperwork to go back and complete," the demon said coolly.

"Count Avidious, this is Ewan Remington. Remington, this is Count Avidious, the Lord of the East Coast," Anna said, introducing us. I still didn't move.

"You're meeting with a demon?" I whispered, not trusting my voice at that moment.

"Yes, Minister Remington. Do you not know that _all_ of the branches of the Magdalene Order have contact with the Demon Lord of that region?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow marked with a faint scar.

"Who hell the promoted you all to lord? I thought that you had to earn your titles?"

"I'm a count, Minister Remington. I've earned my title through hard labor during the Third Crusade and special birth. The same could be said of your brethren. You're a mere angel, but there are certainly higher ranks then you were born too." He said it so casually, but what he said was anything but informal.

I froze. "How do you know what I am?"

"That's enough from you two. Count Avidious, please stop baiting Minister Remington. You asked me to bring him here, and I did. I intended to talk about Aion; not bicker about lineage and race," Anna scolded as she stepped between us. The noble blinked slowly before as he turned his attention onto the nun briefly, and then returned his gaze to me.

"Forgive me, sister. There are still days when I remember trespasses from my youth and they come to the forefront. You must forgive me for that," he muttered, but his eyes never left mine.

"I'll forgive you this time, but please. I would like to get this meeting going. We have a lot to talk about," Anna grumbled as she took the only other seat in the area.

The demon allowed one last lingering look at me before he turned all his attention onto the sister. As he did, his face softened, and his hands went from tightly clenched fists to loosely extended fingers. I realized that he was comfortable around her; as if he had known her for years and knew that he had no reason to be defensive. Whenever he glanced my way, his eyes narrowed briefly, but he would always return to Anna, and his gaze would lighten instantly.

I don't know what I had done to deserve this demon's ire, but every fiber of my being was burning to load up my gun and fire Gospels into his skull until it was an unrecognizable pulp on the floor. So, in an effort to keep these thoughts and feelings at bay, I listened intently to what they were talking about.

"What do you know about his plans?"

"I'm certain that you've seen the reports, count. He's going to build several hundred orphanages across the globe, and his business is planning on opening a North American plant. Seeing as his company deals with weapons contracts, I don't think it would be that difficult to stage a coup if he really wanted to."

"There's something else you know," he said.

"There is? I don't think I'm missing anything," Anna replied, though she looked like she was going through a mental checklist of things to tell him.

"I'll let the angel tell me. He knows what I'm talking about."

His silvery eyes darted back up to me, and he waited.

"He wants the Apostles again. I doubt you need me to inform you of that fact."

"It will do for the time being," he said.

Anna sighed and shook her head. Obviously this meeting was not going as planned.

"Can you tell me what you know, or what you have done? The sooner we're able to discover his plans and put an end to his life, the safer this world will be for everyone," she said.

Count Avidious shifted in his own chair before folding his hands in front of his face.

"I've contacted the other Lords and Ladies, and we've learned where they plan on building their facility. That in of itself looks perfectly legitimate, and until we find out that he's secretly planning on building nuclear weapons at that location, there is little to nothing we can do to stop MINATAUR from building the structure. It's the orphanages that have me worried. He has them scattered throughout the globe, but from what I've been able to understand, he's paid particular attention to countries with high populations and high poverty levels: areas where tragedy is more likely to occur. Does he have any of them yet, angel?" Avidious asked as he looked at me again.

"I don't think so. I'd like to think that he'd flaunt a new adoption to the media, but he's been very quiet ever since he had that press conference. "

He nodded and leaned back into his chair.

"He was the one thing I hoped I would never have to deal with again," he muttered after several moments of silence had passed us by. "Do you know how he came back, angel?"

"Apparently the late Baron Alessandro summoned him."

"From the grave?"

I shrugged. "That's what I was told."

The count's eyes settled on me again. "Did you find out anything else during your time with him?"

"How'd you find that out?" I asked, my back stiffening as he said those words.

"I told him, Minister Remington. After you came back, I called him and informed him of your arrival. If you have a problem with that, take it up with me," Anna said quickly.

"Then no," I answered harshly. "Nothing that would be worthy of your time."

"Alright then, I'll try and get a few of my own spies into the network. The European Lords have tried unsuccessfully to infiltrate the Sinner's ranks so it's my turn now. Sister Anna, tell Sister Florence to contact the Council if she hasn't already. My advice is to be on constant guard for any signs of Fanatics. If they appear again, we'll likely be headed towards World War Three. I'll try and keep the demons from acting out rashly, but if they do, you are free to take care of them. I'll not be keeping fools within my troops."

"This is your counsel?" Anna inquired, sounding formal.

"This is my counsel. Do you have anything for me?"

"Nothing, My Lord," she murmured.

And just like that, the meeting seemed to end. Both of them stood up and while they did hug each other, their time together seemed to be over. Avidious handed her a small parcel, told her to take care, and returned to his side of the desk while Anna began to walk away. I was about to follow her when he called out to me.

"Stay for a moment, Remington. This won't be long."

I glanced at Anna, and she gave me a sad look. "I'll be waiting outside. Just be polite and he'll be the same for you."

She shuffled away, and silence hung in the thick air when the door finally thudded shut.

"Do you know why I brought up your time with Aion?"

I snorted and shook my head. "Why would I have any idea?"

"You're not the only one to have dealt with him. I want the truth. What else did he tell you?" the noble demanded.

"You…," I began before collecting my thoughts, "That's a private matter," I growled back, but he noticed my hesitation, and the harsh features lining his face slowly faded away.

"You were tempted by what he had to offer you, weren't you?" he asked, his voice softer, as if realizing that demanding things of me would get him nowhere.

"How would you know?"

The devil looked away and his shoulders slumped, as if remembering something from long ago. His posture almost made me think he was defeated; a far cry from the aggressive demon that had spoken with me not half an hour before. "I knew him when he was still young. I knew _all _the Sinners when they were young. I realized that Aion was trouble when he kept asking for stories about Adam, but I had no idea how far he would go…His idea of perfection, it almost sounds like it would work, right? What part were you to play?" he asked. His voice was low and almost sad; as if those memories were still too fresh to talk about.

His comment gave me a pause. So I wasn't the only one to turn down an offer from The Sinner, and I wasn't the only one who still wondered what it would have been like to take the other course.

"I was the face. He had me playing the same role as Rosette."

"I was a soldier; just like Genai and Viede. Hell knows how I wanted to go with him to protect _her_; but in the end, not even she could lead me away from the demon race."

"Rizel?"

He glanced back at me. "Shader. Shader was the ideal believer; young and naïve, but smart. She chose him over me though. His lies were more convincing then my truths."

I turned to leave, but one last thing nagged at my brain. "Adam."

"What about him?"

"The stories you told…where they about the human or the demon?"

Avidious frowned, but he looked like he was thinking more than because he was upset.

"The demon," he said after a moment. "I told them stories about the demon so that they would see that turning against Mother would lead to nothing but pain and death. I told them that I had killed the traitor so that they would see that nothing good had come from his escape."

"You killed him?"

"Yes, but it was hardly a fight. I expected him to come at me like a proper demon, but he'd been living with the humans for so long that he may as well have been one. Why do you ask?"

"Aion has a statue of him and his followers at the mansion he lives at. He's enamored with the story."

"That doesn't surprise me. Every time I told stories he always wanted to hear about Adam, and nothing else. He never understood the moral of the story. Adam only wanted the Earth. Aion wants so much more."

I smirked. "He wants to be remembered for rebelling in a much grander way."

"Well, we'll certainly remember him for something. If statues are made of him though, remains yet to be seen.

"Tell Anna that you are to come with her from here on out, Remington. She needs a protector, and I can see no one better than an angel fallen from His grace. I've nothing else to say, but if you have any inquires?" He looked like he wanted to go, and I don't blame him; the thick air was even getting to me.

I wanted to ask him more. I wanted to know where he had been during the Third Crusade, and if that scar over his eye had anything to do with his time on Earth. I wanted a solid explanation for why the air was so thick here, when it was perfectly fine out in the store.

I wanted to ask him many more things, but nothing else would come out.

I shook my head and left the storage area as quickly as I could. Anna was engaged in a lively conversation with the clerk, but they stopped once I entered their line of sight.

"Well, looks like it's time for me to go back. Now, remember what I told you about those cookies," the old nun said as she took my arm in her own.

"I wrote it down, sister. I'll be certain to remember it. You have a good day, oh, and Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to you too, Stephanie!" Anna called from the door.

We walked for sometime without saying anything. Anna was clutching her little package closely, and she didn't appear to want to talk about what had transpired. I don't particularly blame her, but I wanted to discuss certain events with her.

Still, I didn't say anything, and time kept ticking on.

X X X

We made it all the way back to the gates of the Oder before I stopped and started speaking.

"Why did you tell him those things?" My voice was low, and she could tell that I was upset.

"I generally don't hide anything from Count Avidious, Minister Remington. I've known him too long to do that."

"He's a demon, Anna. A very old, and very powerful demon. You just don't go up to a devil like that and lay out everything you've ever heard!"

Anna stared me straight in the eye and answered me calmly. "I've known him for almost sixty years. I trust him with my life, and I trust him with the knowledge I've given him. If I tell him something, it's for a reason; not because I wanted to spread some juicy gossip around. Times have changed, Ewan. This isn't the Order you left back in 1929."

"Was he the one that was there the day Mary died?" I asked. I don't even know why I asked that question. I was angry, and I wanted her to be completely honest with me.

Anna lifted her chin defiantly. "He was."

"Then why the _hell_ didn't he go back in to save her? If the Order has changed so God damned much, then why the hell isn't _she _here?" I growled.

I struck a chord, and her chin wavered slightly.

"He didn't go back in, because I wouldn't let him. She was dead the moment she stepped back into the building to save him. He left after that, but you know what he did that you didn't do, Ewan? He still wrote to me. You left and never intended to return. You only did because you needed some way to make amends for the mistakes of your past. I'm here to tell you, Ewan, that you can't do that. You can't make amends for the things we've done. You can't save Rosette and Chrono anymore. You can't fix Joshua now. You can't go back and reconnect with Kate or Azmaria. You can't change the fact that you wanted to follow Aion, and you didn't. Stop acting like killing Aion will bring this great peace to your life and the lives of those that died. It won't. It will simply destroy a devil that has been plaguing this world for far too long. That's it.

"You keep saying that you don't expect to survive this fight with him, and if you go in like that, you won't. If you go to that battle like this, I don't _want_ you to live. I'd rather have the memory of a man that was happy and light hearted than this shell of an angel that doesn't know what to do with his life. I'll talk to you more about this tomorrow, Ewan. Right now, I am cold, tired, and disappointed," she snapped before opening in the gates and entering the compound.

I stood outside for a long time, trying to make sense of what she said. I had been told those same things so many times over the past few months, and I was beginning to wonder just how long it was going to take for it to finally sink in.

When I did walk inside, I went straight to the church and I sat in the same dark corner Uriel found me in.

"I'm never going to find any answers, am I?" I asked the silence.

The silence said nothing in return.

* * *

Well, Remington isn't as angsty in chapter 12...so far. I really want to get the Christmas chapter up for Christmas, and if I actually move my laptop from my position on the couch to my table, I likely will get it done.

Originally I wasn't going to introduce Count Avidious this early in the story, but the more I thought on it, the more I realize it didn't make sense for Remington to meet him where he did. So, his place in the overall story changed drastically.


End file.
